SEBI Greenlights IndiQube’s INR 850 Cr IPO 

All decks have been cleared for IndiQube’s public listing as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has greenlit the coworking space startup’s plan for its initial public offering (IPO) worth INR 850 Cr (around $99.33 Mn).

As per SEBI’s website, IndiQube received the observation letter from the markets regulator on March 24. In SEBI’s parlance, issuance of an observation letter implies approval for the public offering. 

The company kicked off its IPO process in December last year by converting into a public entity and filing its DRHP in the same month. 

The proposed public issue will comprise a fresh issue of up to INR 750 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component aggregating up to INR 100 Cr. Promoters and cofounders, Rishi Das and Meghna Agarwal, will also divest some of their shares via the OFS. 

As per the DRHP, the duo owns around a 37% stake in the company. 

While the company’s shares are slated to be listed on the BSE and the NSE, it has finalised ICICI Securities and JM Financial as book-running lead managers for the issue. 

Founded in 2015, IndiQube is a managed office space provider that offers ‘office in a box’ experience to clients, encompassing workspace design, interior build out and a plethora of B2B & B2C services leveraging technology.

This approval is the latest addition to the list of startups receiving SEBI’s IPO approval. The list includes the likes of Ather, Ecom Express, ArisInfra, BlueStone and  Smartworks,  with the last one being IndiQube’s immediate competitor. 

The year 2024, buoyed by a bullish market for most of the year, received an overwhelming investor interest, where 12 out of the 13 listed new-age tech companies received a premium listing.

But since September, the broader market saw a correction till the last few weeks. Despite this, over 20 new-age ventures are looking to go public this year. 

IPO Proceeds and Financial Health

The company will deploy its IPO’s fresh issue raised to build new centres, repay borrowings and for general corporate purposes.

While it aims to deploy INR 462.6 Cr to establish new centres and INR 100 Cr to repay certain borrowings, the remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes. At present, it operates 103 centres across 13 cities in India.

On the financial front, IndiQube reported a 72% increase in net loss to INR 341.51 Cr in FY24 from INR 198.10 Cr in the previous year. Although its revenue from operations surged 44% to INR 867.66 Cr in FY24 from INR 601.28 Cr in FY23. 

Besides this, its Q1 FY25 net loss stood at INR 42.04 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 251.30 Cr.

Influx Of Coworking IPOs 

Supplanted by an optimistic market and pandemic-led growth, at least four startups in the coworking space are gearing up for IPO in 2025. Awfis, with its successful listing in 2024, have already laid the IPO path for startups like Smartworks, DevX, WeWork and IndiQube in 2025. 

While Smartwork has already availed the SEBI nod for IPO, the market regulator has returned the draft papers of DevX on February 5. Awfis too was kept in abeyance by the market regulator SEBI. 

The coworking segment has seen a significant rise in recent times, led by the demand for flexible workspace and the growing number of startups in India. Moreover, with the exorbitant rise in real estate prices in major cities, these coworking spaces offer a cost-effective solution for companies to function on the coworking model. 

As per a report from Market & Data, the Indian coworking space market size was estimated at $0.71 Bn in FY24 and is projected to reach $1.96 Bn in FY2032, growing at a CAGR of 13.47% during the forecast period FY25-FY32.