IPO-Bound Shadowfax Converts Into A Public Entity

As per Shadowfax’s MCA filing, its board of directors, in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on March 6, approved the deletion of the word ‘private’ from its erstwhile name ‘ShadowFax Private Technologies Limited’.

“The company is proposing to undertake an initial public offer of the equity shares of face value of INR 10 each of the company comprising of fresh issuance of equity shares by the company and an offer for sale of equity shares by certain existing shareholders of the company and together with the fresh issue, and list the equity shares on one or more of the stock exchanges,” the filing said. 

Besides, Shadowfax’s board also approved increasing the startup’s authorised share capital to INR 900 Cr from INR 261.48 Cr earlier. 

While it is yet to make a formal announcement on its IPO plans, the startup is said to be eyeing a public listing of INR 2,500 Cr to INR 3,000 Cr. The public issue will value it in the range of INR 5,000 Cr to INR 8,000 Cr. 

As per reports, the logistics major’s public offering is likely to be helmed by investor bankers ICICI Securities, JM Financial and Morgan Stanley.

Founded in 2015 by Vaibhav Khandelwal and Abhishek Bansal, Shadowfax claims to be India’s fastest growing end-to-end logistics provider. Its solutions include intercity express parcels, same day delivery, 30-minute delivery, among others. 

It claims to have shipped 1 Bn parcels to over 18,000 pincodes till date. It counts the likes of Nykaa, AJIO, Flipkart, Meesho, among others, as its clients, and is backed by Flipkart, Eight Roads Ventures, TPG, among others.

Shadowfax’s Road To The Bourses

Ahead of the public listing, the startup has strengthened its board and raised fresh funding. 

Here’s what has been happening at Shadowfax since it was first reported that it was eyeing an IPO:

— Earlier this month, cofounders infused INR 65.4 Cr ($7.5 Mn) in the startup at a post-money valuation of $750 Mn. In February, the startup raised $4 Mn from existing investors Mirae Asset and Nokia Growth Partners.

— The startup appointed Bijou Kurien, Ruchira Shukla and Pirojshaw Sarkari as independent directors on its board in February. 

— In January, the startup acquired CriticaLog India to expand its offerings by rolling out comprehensive and customisable delivery services across the country.

Besides the business consolidation activities, the startup has been able to curb its losses in the run up to its IPO. In FY24, Shadowfax cut its net loss by nearly 92% to INR 11.8 Cr from INR 142.6 Cr in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, its top line rose 33% to INR 1,884.8 Cr during the fiscal from INR 1,415.1 Cr in the previous year. 

New-Age Tech IPO Horizon

Amid the bull run in the Indian equities market, 13 new-age tech companies, including Swiggy, Go Digit, Awfis, Ola Electric, FirstCry, ixigo, MobiKwik, among others, went public last year.

Despite the market having a tumultuous run in the ongoing calendar year so far, over 20 new-age ventures are looking to go public this year.

As of now, startups like PhysicsWallah, Zappfresh, Ather Energy, ArisInfra, BlueStone, among others, have filed their draft red herring prospectuses (DRHPs) with SEBI. Of these, five have received the regulator’s nod to go ahead with their public issue. 

Besides, the likes of Zepto, bOAt, Car Dekho, Shadowfax, among others, are now firming up their plans to file their IPO papers.