By Chandini Monnappa
(Reuters) – Indian online meat and seafood retailer Licious is looking to debut on the bourses in the next 12-18 months and is targeting a valuation of $2 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The IPO plan comes at a time when quick commerce is booming in the country, as more shoppers prioritise convenience and speed and are opting for 10-minute deliveries.
Licious, backed by Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek, also sells its products on quick commerce platforms such as Swiggy’s Instamart and Zomato-owned Blinkit.
Licious founders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta said in a statement that they are on their journey to being an IPO-ready company.
“We are focused on scaling the business by expanding markets, distribution channels, and products. To achieve this, we are aggressively growing our brick-and-mortar presence, targeting 500 stores in the next five years and expanding our ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat range,” the statement said.
The Bengaluru-based company was valued at $1.5 billion at its last funding round in 2023. It also counts Avendus Capital, and Bertelsmann Investments among its investors.
Licious’ loss narrowed to 2.98 billion rupees in fiscal 2024 from 5.29 billion rupees loss in 2023, data from Tracxn showed. Revenue declined to 6.87 billion rupees from 7.48 billion rupees in 2023.
IPOs in India, which saw a record-run in 2024, have offered investors scant returns this year, with 60% of the companies that have listed on the BSE bourse trading at a discount to their IPO price, stock exchange data showed.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Nifty 50 index, has fallen 2.96% so far this year and slid about 12.5% from its all-time closing high in September, amid concerns over a corporate earnings slowdown, sustained foreign selling, and worries about U.S. tariffs and fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts. [.BO]
(Reporting by Manvi Pant and Haripriya Suresh in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
