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Shadowfax preps IPO filing; O-1A over H-1B
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Happy Friday! Logistics firm Shadowfax is set for a confidential IPO filing in a month. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.Also in the letter:■ Nykaa’s roadmap■ ETtech Done Deals■ Age verification conundrumShadowfax to file IPO papers under confidential route (L-R), Vaibhav Khandelwal, Praharsh Chandra, Gaurav Jaithliya & Abhishek Bansal, cofounders, Shadowfax Logistics startup Shadowfax is poised to confidentially submit draft papers for its IPO to market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), within a month, according to multiple sources. It will join companies like PhysicsWallah, Shiprocket, Groww, and boAt, all of which have chosen the confidential route.Key details:Shadowfax’s IPO is expected to be Rs 2,000–2,500 crore in size.Fresh capital is expected to form half of the proceeds.Shadowfax is eyeing a valuation of Rs 5,500–6,000 crore, subject to market conditions.ICICI Securities, JM Financial and Morgan Stanley are bankers for the issue.Use of proceeds: Approximately Rs 1,000–1,100 crore from the primary issue will be used to expand the company’s quick delivery offerings, a person familiar with the plan told us.Shadowfax, at a glance:Quick commerce and hyperlocal deliveries contribute 25–30% of Shadowfax’s revenue, a share expected to rise to 35–40%.The remainder comes from ecommerce and D2C logistics, particularly same-day deliveries.Clients include Nykaa, Ajio, Flipkart, and Meesho.Shadowfax is one of the several logistics partners for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).JSW One eyes public listing in 18–24 months Gaurav Sachdeva, CEO, JSW OneJSW One Platforms, the business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce venture of the JSW Group, is planning to go public within 18–24 months as it aims to break even this financial year, CEO Gaurav Sachdeva, told us in an interview.IPO momentum: The company joins other industrial commerce players, including Zetwerk, Infra.Market, and OfBusiness, in preparing for the public markets.JSW One, at a glance: Founded in 2020 by Sachdeva and JSW Group scion Parth Jindal, JSW One handles 2.4 million metric tonnes of steel annually, accounting for about 1.6% of India’s total steel supply.It currently processes a monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 1,400 crore.Revenue rose 4.2x to Rs 1,421.9 crore in FY24, up from Rs 338.8 crore a year earlier.However, net losses widened to Rs 277 crore from Rs 83.8 crore, according to Tracxn data.The company entered the unicorn club earlier this year after raising Rs 340 crore from Principal Asset Management, OneUp and JSW Steel, valuing it at $1 billion.Also Read: Zetwerk gears up for IPO in 12–24 monthsPine Labs files for IPO with Rs 2,600 crore fresh issue; Peak XV, PayPal to pare stakes Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine LabsMerchant payment processor Pine Labs has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi, aiming to raise Rs 2,600 crore through a fresh issue and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 147.8 million shares.Who is selling? Investors offloading shares include Peak XV Partners, Temasek, PayPal, Mastercard, Invesco, Actis, and Madison India. Cofounder Lokvir Kapoor will also sell a portion of his stake. The company is also planning a Rs 520 crore pre-IPO round.Also Read: Pine Labs gets NCLT nod to reverse flip Singapore entityO-1 for the books! Elite talent finds new route to US With the H-1B visa becoming increasingly unreliable, a growing number of ambitious professionals are turning to the O-1A visa to chase their American dream.Employers, too, are taking notice. Many are now willing to invest heavily in sponsorships, urging candidates to bolster their profiles by publishing research papers, authoring books, and attending conferences.What is O-1A visa? Introduced under the Immigration Act of 1990, the O-1A is a temporary, nonimmigrant work visa for individuals of exceptional ability in science, education, business, arts, athletics, motion pictures, or television. Applicants must meet at least thee of the eight specific criteria to qualify.Pros & cons: “There’s growing interest in O-1A because it avoids the H-1B lottery,” said Sahil Nyati, founder of US-based immigration consultancy Jinee Green Card. “Although it’s not a piece of cake.” Versus H-1B:Cost: O-1A applications range from $10,000–$30,000. H-1Bs are more affordable, starting at $970, but legal fees can increase to $7,775 with premium processing. Attorney fees add $2,000–$5,000.Popularity: While 225,957 H-1B visas were approved in FY24, just 22,669 O-1As made the cut. But the latter is growing fast, clocking nearly 10% annual growth.Approval rate: O-1As enjoy a 93% approval rate. H-1Bs offer just 37%.Also Read: Indian students bare their digital souls to win US visasNykaa eyes Rs 6,000 crore GMV from in-house brands by FY30; ramps up fashion, AI bets Falguni Nayar, CEO, Nykaa Nykaa is targeting Rs 6,000 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) from its in-house brands by FY30, nearly tripling from Rs 2,100 crore in FY25. The omnichannel beauty and fashion seller shared the goal during its 2025 investor day. Fashion bet: After a muted performance over the past few quarters, Nykaa aims to grow its fashion vertical three to four times over the next five years. It has also set a long-term Ebitda margin target of 10% for the segment.Quote, unquote: “Even in a cautious macro, we’ve continued to grow with discipline and purpose. Beauty remains a powerhouse, our B2B play is scaling well, and we see recovering momentum in fashion,” said Falguni Nayar, executive chairperson, founder and CEO of Nykaa. Beauty engine: The beauty vertical, still Nykaa’s biggest revenue engine, is expected to grow at a steady mid-20% rate. Growth will be driven by deeper digital discovery, an expanding premium portfolio, and continued investment in omnichannel retail.Also Read: If quick commerce was hurting beauty, we wouldn’t be growing at 30% year-on-year: Nykaa’s Adwaita NayarAI play: Nykaa is positioning itself as an AI-native company, with over 40 generative AI initiatives in the pipeline. It expects AI to generate over half its internal code and handle the majority of customer interactions via voice and chat.Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Binny Bansal, cofounder, Flipkart with ShopOS founders Sai Krishna VK (left) and Ajay PVShopOS raises funds from Binny Bansal: The Flipkart cofounder invested $20 million in the startup, developing an AI-native operating system for global ecommerce brands to automate the creation, management, and marketing of products across various markets.Raphe mPhibr valued at $900 million after fresh raise: Raphe mPhibr, a drone manufacturing startup, has raised $100 million in an equity funding round led by Silicon Valley investor General Catalyst.Google, Meta at loggerheads over age verification: Internet giant Google and social media major Meta recently reiterated their differences on how to verify the age of child users on digital platforms — the latter has suggested using app stores, a motion the former has warned against. Global Picks We Are Reading■ Peter Thiel and the Antichrist (The New York Times)■ The Trump Phone no longer promises it’s made in America (The Verge)■ AI agents are getting better at writing code—and hacking it as well (Wired)
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