India’s booming primary market has spawned a new class of specialists, the so-called pre-IPO or IPO readiness advisors, who are helping companies navigate the complex and high-stakes journey of going public.
Distinct from investment bankers and capital-market lawyers, these firms focus on preparing unlisted companies for the rigour of listing -- from tightening internal controls to managing governance transitions and project-managing the entire IPO process.
With record fundraising in recent years and a deepening pool of domestic capital, the demand for such services has soared. The business has also evolved from small chartered accountant firms or single advisors who would provide advice at the board level to professional firms with large teams that get on the ground to help IPO-bound companies with execution.
“As the Indian capital market evolves, with significant retail participation and domestic flows driving the market, IPOs are becoming a significant source of capital for businesses. As IPOs are a very intense and a virgin experience requiring a lot of heavy lifting, most companies need assistance in this journey,” said Hitesh Mandot, Managing Director of Raadhi Advisors, which specialises in providing end-to-end project management and implementation support for its clients.
A shift from ‘Advisory’ to ‘Execution Partner’
Both Raadhi and Uniqus Consultech, another prominent player in this space, said that the modern IPO is as much an operational transformation as it is a financial transaction.
At Raadhi, Mandot described the firm’s role as one that focuses on implementation and execution rather than traditional consulting.
“We are extremely focused on the capital market journey and specialise in IPOs. We have a team of over 35 people spread across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi,” he said.
He added that the firm is scaling up quickly to meet client demand.
“We are continuously scaling up our business, both in terms of building deeper capabilities as well as presence across key geographies. We will continue to respond to the demands of our clients both in terms of geography as well as their need for more deeper support. Businesses are getting more and more complex and regulations are constantly evolving,” Mandot said.
Demand drivers
Uniqus Consultech’s Co-Founder and CEO Jamil Khatri said the demand for pre-IPO advisory is being driven by three clear forces.
“First, India continues to see strong capital markets momentum with both domestic and foreign investors showing appetite for high-quality issuers. This creates a larger pipeline of companies seeking to access public markets. Second, regulatory expectations around disclosures, governance and internal controls have risen significantly. Third, CFOs are realising that an IPO is not just a transaction, but a transformation of the finance, risk, and governance functions, and they need an experienced execution partner to guide them through this journey,” he said.
Uniqus provides end-to-end IPO support, which includes IPO readiness diagnostic assessment and plan development, help on financial reporting matters, audit and regulatory coordination and governance and risk frameworks
Plugging the readiness gap
The biggest challenge, according to both firms, lies in bridging the knowledge and capability gap within private companies preparing for public life.
“IPO is an intense process and extremely time-sensitive. The biggest challenge IPO-bound companies face is the lack of IPO and public market expertise within the company. Also, IPO being the first step in the public market journey, the businesses do not have a great degree of understanding about managing post-IPO journey,” said Mandot.
Khatri said that the readiness gap among IPO-bound companies typically shows up in three key areas.
He explained that many firms struggle with financial reporting complexity and data quality. Companies often underestimate the effort involved in presenting restated historical financials, reconciliations, and key performance indicators that meet regulatory standards.
The second challenge, he noted, lies in governance and control frameworks. Unlisted companies tend to rely on informal processes, and moving to a listed-company model with independent directors, board committees, related-party approval mechanisms, and insider-trading controls requires a major organisational shift.
The third gap is in execution readiness. An IPO demands seamless coordination among the CFO, auditors, bankers, lawyers, and regulators under intense time pressure.
“Companies often underestimate the time, resources and rigour needed to manage this ecosystem while still running the business,” Khatri said.
Uniqus has been involved with several recent large IPOs, including Swiggy, Hexaware, Leela Hotels, Smartworks and Urban Company. “We are currently engaged with more than 30 other companies across sectors such as technology, healthcare, real estate, and financial services, which are at different stages of their IPOs,” Khatri said. “Today, over 100 professionals are actively deployed on IPO mandates.”
For India Inc, the rise of such firms marks the maturing of the capital-markets ecosystem.
Just as merchant bankers, registrars and legal counsel form the traditional backbone of a listing, IPO-readiness specialists now fill a crucial preparatory gap. They ensure companies reach that stage with robust systems, clean books, and a governance mindset suited for public scrutiny.
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