The animals in the startup jungle—whether mythical or real—must be indexed on their financial health and survivability rather than frothy valuations, which paint a misleading picture
ASK Private Wealth Hurun India index comes up with a comprehensive list of valuations, numbers and types of ‘animals’, what is strikingly missing in the startup forest is animal instinct in terms of focusing on unit economics and building a sustainable business
Illustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur
November 2021. With an issue size of Rs 18,300 crore, it was billed as one of the largest IPOs in India. And on day 1, it turned out to be one of the worst stock market debuts, as the stock dipped over 27 percent. At Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the shares listed at Rs 1,950, a discount of 9.3 percent over the issue price. That’s the story of One97 Communications, which entered the IPO market with a valuation of close to $19 billion at the top end of its price band. Over one-and-a-half years later, the stock was trading at Rs 851 on June 27 this year, and the company posted a loss of Rs 1,855.8 crore in FY23. Clearly, there was a gross mismatch in private valuation and public market reality.