Meesho IPO: Firm moves NCLT to reverse flip to India after $550-million funding round, says report

Meesho

E-commerce firm Meesho has closed a $500 million funding round and has filed an application to reverse its based to India from Delaware in the US, The Economic Times has reported. The move comes ahead of the company's planned initial public offering (IPO), expected in 2026.

In May, Meesho said in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing it raised $275 million from investors as part of a larger funding round. According to latest reports, the round is said to have closed after new investors, including Tiger Global, Think Investments and Mars Growth Capital, put in another $250-$270 million.

The SoftBank and Prosus-backed e-commerce firm has moved the Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for a reverse merger of its India unit, Fashnear Technologies, with the US parent, Meesho Inc, the report said.

The firm is set to file its IPO papers in the second half of this year and is expected to list in 2026, subject to NCLT's approval, the report said.

Moneycontrol couldn't verify the report independently.

"Meesho wants to file for IPO during the second half of the calendar year but yes it's contingent on the speed of the Bengaluru tribunal," the report quoted a source as saying.

The latest funding round reportedly valued the Bengaluru-based firm at around $3.9-4 billion. Notably, US-based Fidelity had valued the company at $5 billion in 2021. It cut Meesho's valuation to $4.1 billion in October 2023, SEC filings show.

"They (Meesho) are IPO-ready and have grown about 30-40 percent in metrics like gross sales, net merchandise volume and revenue," the report quoted a source as saying.

Reverse flipping to India comes with big tax liabilities, which may have prompted Meesho to raise capital via the funding round.

Quick commerce startup Zepto recently reversed flipped to India ahead of its planned IPO after getting the nod from the Mumbai bench of NCLT. Razorpay, which also plans to go public soon, is in the process of flipping back to India.