“There is a small article in today’s ET on why fund houses bet on IPOs. In general, I would say it is not enough to say that IPOs are overvalued, therefore we don’t invest in any IPO. You have to also see if fund managers are not doing any due diligence only to satisfy social media and be labelled as value investors,” Arora said.
Arora said that Helios Mutual Fund was an anchor investor in just four initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2025 as of October 31. These were Ather Energy, Travel Food Services, Urban Company and Jain Resources.
“Helios Mutual Fund fellows have informed me that they were anchor investors in the following IPOs ONLY this year (till October 31st): Ather Energy: IPO price: 321, CMP: 659/Travel Food Services: IPO price: 1100, CMP: 1279/Urban Company: IPO price: 103, CMP: 146/Jain Resources: IPO price: 232, CMP: 435,” Arora said.
The fund applied in the anchor quota for 2–3 other issues but did not get allotment. “There were 2–3 more they tried for, but unfortunately (and in one case fortunately) they did not get allotment,” he added.
While tech companies launching their IPOs at expensive valuations has been a topic of discussion previously as well, the recent issue of Lenskart Solutions reignited the debate on whether such high valuations in most tech companies are justified. Lenskart had a lacklustre debut, listing at a discount of 1.7% at Rs 395 versus the issue price of Rs 402 per share. It is currently trading above the issue price, around Rs 415. Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath also recently shared a long post on X, voicing his opinion on the issue. He shed light on what he called a “tax arbitrage game” driving startup behaviour and valuations in India, as he explained why many venture capital (VC)-backed companies are deliberately operating with little or no profit.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur and former MD of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover, has come up with a tongue-in-cheek video taking a swipe at start-up founders. The 1 minute 19 second video lampoons the start-up world where tech founders seek lofty valuations on loss-making enterprises based on business models.
Also Read: Pun Intended! Ashneer Grover’s hilarious swipe on tech founders and lofty valuations in EYEPOs
(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)