Prosus Eyes 5 Public Listings In India In FY26, Defers PayU IPO

Global investor Prosus’ management shared a bullish view on its India investments while announcing the financial performance for FY25. After realising hefty gains from foodtech major Swiggy’s public listing in 2024, the firm is eyeing five more public listings in India “this year”.

Speaking with CNBC, Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi emphasised that India is a key focal point in its investment strategy. Without giving names, Bloisi said that Prosus expects to see 5 more IPOs from its portfolio in the country.

“I think this is very good for India because we have the local markets here investing in the local companies. This was critical for the US, this was critical for China. I think if India can have strong local markets investing in tech, it’s going to be amazing for India,” he added.

Besides, the CEO also expects India to produce the next $100 Bn tech company. Prosus, which has been an early backer of Chinese tech giant Tencent, plans to replicate that success in India.

Bloisi believes that Indian tech companies are still at early stages of their journeys, a position where the Chinese tech ecosystem was at about 14 years ago. Hence, the investor is now looking to double down on the country as the tech ecosystem grows further.

Prosus’ IPO-Bound Companies

Here are the key companies from Prosus’ India portfolio that are looking at a public listing:

BlueStone: The omnichannel jewellery startup filed its DRHP in December last year. The company’s proposed IPO was to comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 1,000 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 2.4 Cr equity shares. Prosus doesn’t plan to sell its stake in the IPO. Notably, BlueStone received SEBI’s approval for its IPO in April.

Urban Company: The at-home services provider filed for an IPOin April this year. Its proposed public offering will consist of a fresh issue of shares worth INR 429 Cr and an OFS of up to INR 1,471 Cr. Like BlueStone, Prosus is not looking to offload any stake in Urban Company as well.

Meesho: Having completed its reverse flip to India, the ecommerce giant is now gearing up to file its IPO papers soon. Its IPO is expected to be of $700 Mn to $800 Mn and value the company at $10 Bn. Prosus owns a 13% stake in Meesho.

Captain Fresh: The B2B seafood marketplace is planning an IPO by the end of 2025, aiming to raise $350 Mn to $400 Mn. The IPO will consist of a fresh issue of shares as well as an offer for sale.

PayU India: The Prosus-owned fintech company has been eyeing a listing on the Indian bourses since 2023, when it was said to be in the final stages of filing for an IPO of $500 Mn. Prosus, however, deferred the listing plans for the payments solutions provider to 2025.

Now, the Dutch investor has again deferred PayU’s listing plans. As per a report by Reuters today, Prosus is looking to work on enhancing PayU’s India business over the next 6-12 months. Notably, PayU India’s adjusted EBIT loss in FY25 zoomed 38% to $44 Mn. Meanwhile, its revenue grew 21% to $669 Mn.

“While revenue and margins improved, PayU India recorded a trading loss. We aim to restore its profitability,” Bloisi said in the firm’s annual report.

To date, Prosus has seen only one of its portfolio companies go public – Swiggy. The VC firm raked in $500 Bn from Swiggy’s IPO, almost 3X returns on its investment for selling a fifth of its stakein the company.

Prosus is still the largest non-promoter stakeholder in Swiggy, holding a 24.8% stake in the foodtech major. As of March 31, 2025, this stake was valued at $2.2 Bn.

ElasticRun Gives Highest IRR In FY25

The tech investor, which entered the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem in 2015, has invested $8.6 Bn across more than 30 Indian startups till date. Of these, the cumulative valuation of 5 companies – PayU, Swiggy, Rapido, Meesho, Urban Company – stands at $21 Bn. Prosus’ stake in these companies is valued at $8 Bn.

Prosus is focussed on ecommerce, fintech, AI and SaaS sectors in India. “These investments have yielded robust returns and built a strong pipeline of IPO-ready businesses,” it said in its annual report.

As per its earnings report for FY25, ElasticRun had the highest internal rate of return (IRR), a financial metric used to evaluate the profitability of potential investments, in Prosus’ India portfolio in FY25 at 28%. Prosus owns about 24% stake in ElasticRun

The B2B ecommerce unicorn has no plans to go public anytime soon. “We have substantial cash on the books, so we don’t have any rush going for an IPO just yet. I think all pieces are aligned and as and when we make the decision, we can go for the IPO,” ElasticRun’s founder Sandeep Deshmukh told Inc42 last month.

While Swiggy’s IRR stood at 23%, that of Meesho was at 20%. However, Prosus ascribed a negative IRR of 29% to PharmEasy, which has been in financial muddle in recent times. The epharmacy’s investor Janus Henderson cut the valuation of the company by 92% to $456 Mn in December 2024, a far cry from its peak valuation of $5.6 Bn. Prosus owns about 11.1% stake in PharmEasy.

“India remains a cornerstone of our long-term investment strategy. We began as a growth-stage investor in consumer internet businesses, and have since evolved into an end-to-end, multistage, multisector platform across the country. In the past year, we backed innovation across B2C, SaaS, B2B marketplaces and enterprise AI,” Prosus said.

[Edited by: Vinaykumar Rai]

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