VCs pocket gains of over $1.7 bn through IPOs so far this year; still sit on holdings worth over $10 bn

VCs pocket gains of over $1.7 billion through IPOs so far this year; Still sit on holdings worth over $10 billion

India’s 2025 startup IPO cycle is turning into the strongest liquidity window the venture ecosystem has seen in years. Across seven high-profile listings — Ather Energy, Bluestone, Urban Company, Lenskart, Pine Labs, Groww and PhysicsWallah — early venture capitalists have realised over Rs 15,000 crore (more than $1.7 billion) through offer-for-sale (OFS) transactions, based on figures disclosed in each company’s IPO documents.

In addition, a Moneycontrol’s analysis of post-issue shareholding disclosures and closing market capitalisations as of November 20 showed these investors continue to sit on unrealised gains of more than Rs 90,000 crore (nearly $10.3 billion), as they continue to remain shareholders in these companies.

The total unrealised value, calculated by multiplying each investor’s post-IPO stake with their market capitalisation, is more than six times the profits they have pocketed — underscoring how much of this year’s IPO-driven value remains unrealised and still held on investor balance sheets.

Among major VC investors, a few names stand out for the scale of value realised as well as the much larger value they continue to hold. Peak XV, for instance, booked Rs 2,091 crore through OFS sales in Groww and Pine Labs, but still sits on over Rs 21,000 crore worth of shares across Groww, Pine Labs and Bluestone, as of their share prices on November 20.

SoftBank realised Rs 1,026 crore via its Lenskart sell-down, even as its remaining stake in the company is valued at almost Rs 9,500 crore.  Tiger Global booked Rs 834 crore across Ather Energy, Groww and Urban Company, while its unsold holdings in Ather and Groww together are worth nearly Rs 6,300 crore. Accel, meanwhile, realised Rs 525 crore in Bluestone and Urban Company but continues to hold shares worth almost Rs 2,500 crore across the two companies.

How much liquidity have investors taken out?

Across the seven IPOs so far, existing shareholders have realised just over Rs 15,000 crore through OFS transactions.

Groww and Lenskart account for a majority of the realised value, with OFS proceeds of Rs 5,572 crore and Rs 5,128 crore respectively. Urban Company booked Rs 1,428 crore through OFS, Pine Labs generated Rs 1,820 crore, Bluestone saw Rs 721 crore in secondary sales, while Ather Energy and PhysicsWallah added Rs 355 crore and Rs 380 crore.

These amounts reflect only secondary share sales by current investors; primary capital raised by companies is excluded from this tally.

The realised value makes 2025 one of the most meaningful exit years since the 2021 cycle. Unlike that year, where a narrow set of companies dominated liquidity, the 2025 gains are spread across multiple sectors — mobility, jewellery, services, fintech, consumer internet and education — signalling a broader recovery in public investor appetite for new-age businesses.

How much value are investors still sitting on?

While investors have booked heavy gains through share sales during the IPOs, an even larger pool of value still remains on their books. As of November 20, unsold investor stakes across the seven newly listed companies are valued at over Rs 90,000 crore. A large share of this value is concentrated in a few standout listings, led by Groww and Lenskart.

Groww alone, at a market cap of nearly Rs 97,000 crore as of November 20, accounts for the single largest block of unrealised investor wealth. Peak XV’s post-issue stake in the company is now worth over Rs 16,000 crore, while Y Combinator and Ribbit Capital hold positions valued at nearly Rs 10,000 crore and over Rs 12,000 crore respectively. Tiger Global’s stake in the investment platform is worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore.

Lenskart, valued at more than Rs 72,000 crore, forms the next major layer of investor value. SoftBank’s 13.10 percent stake is now worth around Rs 9,500 crore, while Premji Invest, Alpha Wave and Kedaara together hold over Rs 7,200 crore.

At Urban Company’s market cap of over Rs 20,000 crore, Elevation Capital, Accel, Naspers, Vy Capital and Steadview each hold stakes valued between around Rs 1,300 crore and nearly Rs 1,600 crore.

Ather Energy, valued at over Rs 26,000 crore, contributes another sizeable block of investor value, led by Caladium and followed by Tiger Global, the India-Japan Fund and NIIF. Pine Labs adds further depth to the pool, with Peak XV’s stake alone worth over Rs 4,500 crore at the company’s nearly Rs 27,500-crore market cap.

In Bluestone, Accel remains the largest investor on the cap table post-listing, while PhysicsWallah’s over Rs 40,000-crore valuation places WestBridge and other early backers on meaningful unsold positions.

Which investors have gained the most?

A consolidated view across the seven companies shows that Peak XV Partners is the largest beneficiary of the 2025 cohort, with over Rs 21,000 crore in mark-to-market value across its holdings in Groww, Pine Labs and Bluestone.

Y Combinator and Ribbit Capital follow, driven almost entirely by exposure to Groww. SoftBank’s stake in Lenskart is worth nearly Rs 9,500 crore, while Tiger Global’s positions in Ather Energy and Groww together exceed Rs 6,000 crore. Accel’s holdings in Urban Company and Bluestone total nearly Rs 2,500 crore.

Together, Peak XV, Y Combinator, SoftBank, Tiger Global and Accel account for almost half of the unsold Rs 90,000-crore investor pool, showing how much of the public-market upside is still held by a handful of early investors.

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What does this signal about the wider IPO cycle?

The combined investor gains — over Rs 15,000 crore in realised OFS cash and more than Rs 90,000 crore in unsold holdings — show how strong the 2025 exit window has become.

This comes at a time when the public-market footprint of new-age companies is expanding. As Moneycontrol reported earlier, new-age firms now account for 2.49 percent of India’s total market capitalisation, nearly double their 1.36 percent share in December 2021, driven by improved profitability, stronger domestic institutional demand and a surge of listings through 2024 and 2025.

Yet the listed share of India’s startup economy remains small relative to its private-market scale. With unicorns valued at around Rs 25 lakh crore, only a fraction is public today. The unsold stakes investors hold, therefore, represent just the early part of a much larger pool of potential future liquidity.