Temasek and MOPE-backed Molbio Diagnostics kickstarts IPO prep, aims Rs 22,000-24,000 cr valuation

Molbio Diagnostics became Goa's first startup to hit unicorn status in September 2022

Singapore investment major Temasek and Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOPE)-backed diagnostics chain Molbio Diagnostics has kickstarted work to launch an initial public offer in FY25 and raise around Rs 2,200 crore to Rs 2,400 crore, three persons in the know told Moneycontrol.

"The advisors' syndicate was finalized recently and includes Kotak Mahindra Capital, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Jefferies and IIFL Capital. The firm is targeting a valuation of Rs 22,000 crore to Rs 24,000 crore," said one of the persons mentioned above.

Molbio Diagnostics became Goa's first startup to hit unicorn status in September 2022 after raising around Rs 680 crore from Temasek and existing investor MOPE.

A second person told Moneycontrol that the proposed listing, the first of its kind in India in the niche molecular diagnostics segment, would facilitate a partial exit window for the existing investors, with the promoter group also likely to dilute part stake.

A third person said the plan was to launch the IPO in November.

All the three persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.

Multiple emails sent to Molbio Diagnostics and its senior executives and Motilal Oswal Financial Services remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article.

When contacted, Temasek said it does not comment on market speculation. "We thus decline to comment, " the firm added.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, Jefferies and IIFL Capital could not be reached for an immediate comment.

During the last month, diagnostic stocks like Dr Lal Pathlabs, Metropolis Healthcare and Vijaya Diagnostics have risen by 12.31 percent, 6.94 percent and 19.74 percent, respectively.

More on Molbio

Molbio , which was founded by technocrat and CEO Sriram Natarajan, is known for its Truenat technology—a point-of-care, portable, battery-operated real-time PCR platform. Truenat claims to be the world’s first point-of-care molecular diagnostic platform to secure the nod of the World Health Organization (WHO) as a replacement to smear microscopy for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

According to an article dated May 11 on Molbio by BioSpectrum India, the company is looking to strengthen diagnostic testing for hepatitis C, B, HPV, and HIV, besides tuberculosis and is currently working on many point-of-care technologies in the areas of haematology, cancer, anti-microbial resistance (AMR), next-generation sequencing (NGS) and syndromic testing.

"After generating a group revenue of Rs 850 crore during FY 23-24, the company plans to strengthen its global presence this fiscal, along with launching new products in the Indian market. With these initiatives in mind, MolBio Diagnostics foresees a revenue collection of Rs 1200 crore in FY 24-25," the article added.

In February 2023, Molbio acquired a majority stake in Prognosys Medical Systems, a manufacturer of Digital X Ray machines including portable and ultra-portable machines, which opened up the former's entry into the radiology segment. Bangalore-based Bigtec Labs is the R&D ( research and development) wing of Molbio.