Indian VCs make $1.7B from IPOs, still hold over $10B
What's the story
India's 2025 start-up initial public offering (IPO) cycle has emerged as a major liquidity window for the venture ecosystem. Seven high-profile listings—Ather Energy, Bluestone, Urban Company, Lenskart, Pine Labs, Groww, and Physics Wallah—have helped early-stage venture capitalists realize over ₹15,000 crore (more than $1.7 billion) through offer-for-sale (OFS) transactions. The data is based on each company's IPO documents and Moneycontrol's analysis of post-issue shareholding disclosures and closing market capitalizations as of November 20.
Unrealized value
Investors still hold over $10B in unrealized gains
Despite the realized gains from OFS transactions, investors continue to hold a massive amount of unrealized value. As of November 20, the total unrealized value stood at over ₹90,000 crore (nearly $10.3 billion). This was calculated by multiplying each investor's post-IPO stake with their market capitalization. The unrealized value is more than six times the profits pocketed by these investors through share sales during IPOs.
VC performance
Peak XV leads in realized and unrealized value
Among major VC investors, Peak XV has realized ₹2,091 crore through OFS sales in Groww and Pine Labs. However, it still holds over ₹21,000 crore worth of shares across these companies. SoftBank also booked gains of ₹1,026 crore via its Lenskart sell-down but its remaining stake in the company is valued at almost ₹9,500 crore. Tiger Global and Accel have also realized significant amounts through various listings while holding substantial shares worth thousands of crores across different companies.
Market leaders
Groww and Lenskart dominate realized value
Groww and Lenskart account for the majority of the realized value with OFS proceeds of ₹5,572 crore and ₹5,128 crore, respectively. Urban Company booked ₹1,428 crore through OFS while Pine Labs generated ₹1,820 crore. Bluestone saw secondary sales worth ₹721 crore while Ather Energy and Physics Wallah added ₹355 crore and ₹380 crore, respectively. These figures only reflect secondary share sales by current investors; primary capital raised by companies is not included in this tally.
Exit year
2025: A significant exit year for investors
The realized 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, jewelry, services, fintech, consumer internet, and education. This indicates a broader recovery in public investor appetite for new-age businesses.