MUMBAI: Even after its failed bet on Byju’s, which was once India’s most valued startup, Dutch technology investor Prosus remains bullish on the country’s market.
The company will continue to invest in India and remains excited about the country’s prospects, Fabricio Bloisi, CEO at Prosus and Naspers, said. Prosus, which is the largest investor in IPO-bound Swiggy, also expects more of its portfolio startups from India to go public in 12-18 months, Bloisi said in a letter to shareholders on Monday.Prosus – majority-owned by South Africa’s Naspers – has investments in a clutch of Indian startups including Meesho, Urban Company and PharmEasy.
“Swiggy announced its intent to IPO. Our early focus and investment in India is paying off… I expect we will see more of our investments in Indian IPOs in the coming 12 to 18 months,” Bloisi said. Swiggy – which has filed for a Rs 10,000 crore IPO – also secured shareholder nod to potentially upsize its total issue size to about Rs 11,700 crore. The IPO is likely to hit the street next month, and is the biggest startup IPO after Paytm’s Rs 18,300 crore public issue launched in 2021. A robust IPO market in India has nudged several startups like FirstCry and Ola Electric to go public, as well as many other new-age companies to queue up for IPOs after a three-year lull.
Prosus, alongside a few other Byju’s investors including Peak XV Partners and General Atlantic, has been embroiled in a legal battle with the startup, filing an oppression and mismanagement suit against the company’s management besides opposing its rights issue. Earlier this year, Prosus wrote off its investment in Byju’s on the back of inadequate information on the company’s financial health, liabilities and future outlook. Bloisi said that Prosus is worth $100 billion today and that the company improved its e-commerce adjusted ebit by more than $400 million in FY24.
