Groww, backed by Satya Nadella, set to become first Indian startup to go public after U.S.-to-India move

Groww, India’s largest retail brokerage firm, is set to test the country’s public markets with a multi-billion-dollar IPO. The listing comes comes just over a year after the company restructured its corporate headquarters from Delaware back to India — a move that could make it the first Indian startup to list at home following a relocation from the U.S.

Backed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and marquee investors including Y Combinator, Ribbit Capital, and Tiger Global, Groww’s listing — expected later this year — is set to double as a major exit opportunity for global venture funds. The three investment firms are offloading about 236 million shares — roughly 5.6% of Groww’s total equity base — per the draft IPO documents filed on Tuesday. That makes them the single largest selling bloc, accounting for about 41% of all shares being offered to the public.

Pine Labs, Razorpay, Meesho, and Zepto are among the Indian startups that have recently shifted their base back home. Walmart-backed PhonePe relocated its headquarters from Singapore to India in 2022, while Flipkart — once its parent and also backed by Walmart — similarly announced plans to move its headquarters from Singapore to India earlier this year.

Last year, Groww became one of the first startups to shift its headquarters back to India from the U.S. The startup paid around $159 million in taxes as part of the move.

Relocating their base back home helps startups align with evolving local regulations and meet requirements for domestic stock listings. It also makes sense to tap India’s public markets, given the expanding retail investor base and rising appetite for IPOs. The trend reflects the growing maturity and attractiveness of India’s capital markets compared to overseas alternatives.

While U.S. investors plan to offload a large chunk of their holdings in Groww, founders Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal together are selling only about 4 million shares — only 0.7% of the total offer for sale, per the draft prospectus.

The small sale signals that Groww’s founders are holding on to nearly all their equity, in contrast to the established investors who are using the IPO as an exit route.

Groww plans to raise ₹10.6 billion (approximately $121 million) in new funding from the IPO, along with the secondary sale of 574 million shares by existing shareholders, expected to be priced at ₹5–6 billion (roughly $568–$682 million). The IPO is expected to value the Bengaluru-based company at $9 billion.

In the fiscal year ending March 31, Groww reported total income of ₹40.6 billion (about $462 million), up 45% year-on-year, with profit after tax of ₹18.2 billion (roughly $208 million). The startup had posted a net loss of about ₹8 billion (around $92 million) in the previous year, primarily due to expenses tied to its Delaware headquarters relocation.

As of June, Groww had about 37.4 million individual demat accounts (digital accounts that hold securities electronically), representing nearly 19% of India’s market, along with 12.6 million active clients on the National Stock Exchange, equal to a 26% share. The platform also counted around 17 million active systematic investment plans (SIPs, which are recurring monthly investments) and 9 million unique mutual fund investors, becoming the only investment app in the country to surpass 100 million cumulative downloads.

The offering is being advised by JPMorgan Chase, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citigroup, Axis Bank and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors.