Investments

SoftBank sweats as Ola Electric, FirstCry, and Unicommerce go public amid market jitters

Nikhil Patwardhan

August 09, 2024 | 7 Min Read

SoftBank exited three of its public portfolio companies this year with little to show for it. The Japanese investor now has its eyes set on three more companies going public in the coming days. Will these listings have a happier ending for the Japanese investor?

Public market investors have had a whirlwind week. On Monday, benchmark indices plunged 2.7% in tandem with a global downturn fueled by fears of a recession. Meanwhile, the IPO market is heating up with three new tech companies—Ola Electric, FirstCry, and Unicommerce—making their public debut. Ola Electric’s IPO, in fact, is the largest public listing so far this year.

These IPOs are not only under the microscope of public market investors but are also being keenly watched by India's startup ecosystem. As the second batch of billion-dollar startups to test the public market, their performance will be a significant measuring stick for the startup world.

Read this article for free

In addition, access 50+ archived articles and 3 new articles every month

Join our community of 100,000+ top executives, VCs, entrepreneurs, and brightest student minds

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

Sangeet Paul Choudary on why AI's real power lies in reimagining systems, not replacing tasks

Best-selling author and business advisor Sangeet Paul Choudary argues that businesses are missing AI's real impact by focusing on intelligence benchmarks rather than system transformation.

Team Captable

India's ethanol transition explained: The science, the concerns, and the road ahead

As India moves from E10 to E20 ethanol-blended petrol, consumers and automakers weigh cost savings, environmental gains, and the engineering trade-offs

Muralidhar Swaminathan

IRCTC boards the fintech express, eyeing a bigger retail and e-commerce play

IRCTC has hopped onto the fintech train as it awaits a payment aggregator licence from the RBI. Payments will only be a slice of its expanding non-ticketing revenue pie, which already makes up 70% of the business. But can a PSU rooted in legacy systems thrive in a fast, innovation-led fintech arena?

Sohini Mitter

The IPO domino effect big money is quietly betting on

Private markets are frozen, public markets are ruthless, and investors have run out of patience — or exits. With no breakout tech, no AI glory, and flatlining valuations, India’s startups are lining up for IPOs, hoping Dalal Street will do what VCs won’t.

Nikhil Patwardhan

When the music pauses: What’s the way forward for Agritech startup Gramophone

Agritech startup Gramophone battles shutdown rumours and a deep fall in valuation, but CEO Tauseef Khan insists the company has in recent months turned profitable and is growing

Parvathi Benu

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now

Stories

Explore