🛒 All about Meesho’s sneaky IPO move

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04 July 2025 View in Browser

Hello,   MobiKwik Securities Broking Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of One MobiKwik Systems, has received regulatory approval from India’s market regulator to act as a stockbroker and clearing member, the company said in a statement on Thursday.   Moving on, the tech world’s love for The Lord of the Rings is well known.    Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has returned to Middle Earth to name his new national bank. Called Erebor Bank, the new venture hopes to fill the gap left by Silicon Valley Bank. Sherwood News has an interesting interactive game about company names inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien!   “Erebor Bank” is named after Erebor, also known as the “Lonely Mountain,” which is featured in The Hobbit. The fictional mountain is home to Smaug, the dragon, who surrounds himself with gold.   Speaking of tech and gold, while Meta is paying millions of dollars for top AI talent, its broader workforce of engineers and product managers also has an impressive salary range, Business Insider reported.   Lastly, Nvidia hit a market value of $3.92 trillion on Thursday, briefly putting it on track to become the most valuable company in history, as Wall Street remains optimistic about AI, Reuters reports.   In today’s newsletter, we will talk about  Meesho’s silent IPO move India’s EV financing challenge Trans representation where it matters Here’s your trivia for today: Which Russian novelist wrote the short story The Queen of Spades?

Ecommerce Meesho’s silent IPO moveSoftbank-backed Meesho has confidentially filed its DRHP with market regulator SEBI as it aims to raise $500 million in fresh funds, two sources aware of the matter told YourStory.    The Bengaluru-based ecommerce company will also have a secondary portion, where some investors might divest their stake. According to primary discussions, founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal aren't selling anything in the initial public offering, sources said.   All the details: According to sources, Sarthak Misra from SoftBank and Ashutosh Sharma from Prosus have stepped down from Meesho’s board. Peak XV Partners’ Mohit Bhatnagar and Elevation Capital’s co-managing partner, Mukul Arora, are expected to continue serving on the board. Elevation Capital, Peak XV, and Prosus are among the largest institutional shareholders in Meesho, owning between 13% and 15% stake each. Japanese investor SoftBank owns close to a 10% stake in the e-tailer. Other investors in the company include WestBridge Capital and Fidelity. Since the beginning of the year, Physicswallah, Groww, boAt, Aequs, and Shiprocket have filed their draft prospectus with the exchange regulator through the confidential route. Know More

Funding Alert Maieutic Semiconductor: $4.15M | Seed Luma Fertility: $4M | Seed GobbleCube: $3.5M | Pre-Series A

Electric Mobility India’s EV financing challenge In India’s booming gig economy, delivery partners power everything from food deliveries to quick grocery runs. Today, most driver partners prefer to drive an EV for last-mile deliveries due to the lower operating costs compared to their petrol and diesel counterparts.    Yet, despite being the backbone of urban convenience, millions of gig workers struggle to get access to EV financing as NBFCs remain cautious. As a result, EV fleet operators have stepped in to rent vehicles to delivery partners.    Staggered transition: Ecommerce and quick commerce platforms have government mandates to electrify their delivery fleet, pushing many companies to lay down electrification targets. For fleet operators, financing is a less arduous process, but it is not without complexities. “...financially, the fleet operators are not very strong to be able to underwrite them purely on the basis of financials as one would do in traditional financing,” said Sameer Aggarwal, Founder at Revfin, an EV-financing company. Not many EV financing companies have the bandwidth to undertake rigorous checks, and so they have a different model. Mufin Green Finance, an NBFC that finances EVs, for example, does not fund gig workers directly. Instead, it provides financing for fleet operators that, in turn, equip gig workers with vehicles. Know More

Social Impact Trans representation where it mattersIn a first for Tamil Nadu, a transwoman has been appointed Assistant Professor of English at one of the state’s top colleges, marking a significant moment for trans representation in academic spaces.    Jency’s journey from a marginalised childhood in rural Tiruttani to the front of a college classroom is a testament to the transformative power of education and perseverance. However, struggles of trans youth must be made systemically easy too, she says. Know More

From the CapTable Data settles the debate: IIT Delhi leads in both unicorn numbers and startup jobsMayank Kumar picks up his phone mid-conversation and scrolls through a WhatsApp group. The names he reads out casually roll off like a regular alumni roster: Binny Bansal, Co-founder of Flipkart; Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Zomato; Abhishek Bansal, Co-founder of logistics company Shadowfax.   But this isn’t just any group. It's a list of some of India’s most influential startup founders, and they all happen to be alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.   Kumar himself is on that list. He's the co-founder of edtech unicorn UpGrad and of BorderPlus, a new-age skilling company for overseas workers. “It's quite obvious that no higher education institution in the country has done better than IIT Delhi when it comes to creating successful entrepreneurs,” he says, not without pride. Data that The CapTable exclusively obtained from One Innovation, a portal jointly developed by analytics platform YNOS Venture Engine, in partnership with IIT Madras' Centre for Research on Start-Ups and Risk Financing and the Ministry of Education, backs his claim.  Of all higher education institutions in the country, IIT Delhi has created the highest number of unicorn founders: 27. This includes the institute’s alumni and founders who incubated their ventures in the institute of national importance. IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur come next, having created 13 unicorns each. The third position is held jointly by the University of Delhi and IIT Kharagpur, which are responsible for creating 11 unicorns each. Continue Reading

News & Updates

New unit: Reliance Industries will spin off its consumer goods unit into a new entity. The NCLT has approved the internal restructuring under which Reliance will transfer its consumer business from its retail arm into a direct subsidiary, New Reliance Consumer Products Ltd. Tariffs: US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Hanoi just days before Washington’s reciprocal tariffs come back in full force. The US will now apply a 20% duty on Vietnamese imports, sharply below the 46% rate Trump had imposed in early April. US imports to Vietnam will not be subject to tariffs. Sales: Apple iPhone sales jumped 8% YoY in the three months to the end of June, according to Counterpoint Research, as the tech giant looks to turnaround its business in one of its most critical markets. It’s the first time Apple has recorded growth in China since the Q2 of 2023.

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Inside vivo’s classroom of changemakers and its bold bet on youth, tech, and social impact In Partnership with Vivo   With flagship CSR initiatives like vivo Ignite and vivo KanyaGyaan, vivo India is nurturing a new generation of innovators. From teenage tech tinkerers to first-generation STEM scholars, the smartphone major is going beyond devices by investing in young minds.   Know More

Did you know?

Which Russian novelist wrote the short story The Queen of Spades?   Answer: Alexander Pushkin.

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