Edition #15. Eight Roads and TPG NewQuest backed Shadowfax Technologies got off to a bumpy start in the public markets this week. The Bangalore-based logistics company, which hit the markets to raise Rs 1,907 crore ($208 million) through an initial public offering (IPO), listed at a 9.19% discount on the offer price. The IPO price band was set at Rs 118-124 per share. The stock closed at Rs 106.62 on the NSE at the end of trading week on Friday.
Like most public market outings by private equity (PE) backed companies in recent times, the Shadowfax IPO had a large OFS (offer for sale) portion — Rs 907 crore or about 48% of the total offering — allowing PE-VC investors to liquidate some of their holdings.
The selling shareholders, based on the offer document, include Flipkart, Eight Roads and TPG NewQuest, who hold 14.8%, 14.2% and 14.1% respectively. Also selling are Nokia Growth Partners (6.3%), IFC (5.2%), and Qualcomm (3.7%).
How private investor gains stack up at the discounted listing price:
Eight Roads, which is sitting on 10x gains, entered the company at Rs 11.92 per share (source: offer documents). It retains a significant stake post-listing. TPG NewQuest, which invested from the NewQuest Asia Fund IV in 2024, entered at Rs 56.53 per share. Flipkart, which has the highest number of shares on sale in the OFS, entered Shadowfax at Rs 43.77 per share.
The stock’s performance over the next few weeks will determine the medium-to-long term gains for both institutional and retail investors. Shadowfax’s disappointing outing on the bourses comes a week after Norwest Venture Partners-backed Amagi Media Labs listed at a discount. The stock opened at Rs 318 on January 21, against an IPO price band of Rs 343-Rs 361. It recovered somewhat post listing and closed on Friday at Rs 366.70.
The first two IPOs this year by PE-VC backed companies haven’t quite lived up to the hype. There’s a long line of similar public market outings waiting in the wings including Kissht, Razorpay, Atomberg, and NSE. Plenty of opportunities to reverse sentiments.
The Week in Deals
Reliance Boards Digantara; Norwest Enters Aerospace Components
Digantara onboarded Reliance Industries as the lead investor in its $50 million Series B round. Other new investors in the round are 360 One, SBI Ventures and Ronnie Screwvala. Peak XV Partners and Kalaari Capital were returning investors in the round, which values the spacetech startup at about $200 million. IISc-incubated Digantara is a space surveillance and intelligence startup that is building an integrated system, using satellites and on-ground sensors, to track objects in space and detect missile launches.
JJG Aero raised a $30 million Series B from Norwest Venture Partners. The aerospace components manufacturer had earlier, in 2024, raised $12 million in a Series A round from private equity firm CX Partners. The investment marks Norwest’s first in the aerospace components space.
Easy Home Finance raised a $30 million Series C led by Investcorp. Claypond Capital and SMBC Asia Rising Fund were returning investors in the round. The company offers affordable home loans to low and middle income borrowers.
SpotDraft raised $8 million from Qualcomm Ventures in an extension of its Series B round. The latest infusion values the startup at $380 million, according to TechCrunch. The company raised $56 million for the Series B in February last year, led by Vertex Growth Singapore and Trident Growth Partners. SpotDraft offers enterprises a software platform that uses large language AI models and rules-based systems to analyse contract language, flag risks and speed up legal workflows.
4baseCare raised a $9.8 million Series B led by public market investors Ashish Kacholia and Lashit Sanghvi. Existing investor Yali Capital participated in the round. 4Basecare is a precision diagnostics company focused on oncology.
Nivaan Care raised a $7 million Series A led by Sorin Investments. W Health Ventures, Endiya Partners and Rebright Partners were return investors in the round. The company operates a chain of pain management clinics.
Agrani Labs raised $8 million in a seed round led by Peak XV Partners. The AI semiconductor startup is developing a ground-up AI GPU and supporting system software for data centre computing.
Sub $5 million deals:Mysa, which offers an AI-powered finance and accounting software for enterprises, raised $3.4 million in a pre-Series A round led by Blume Ventures and Piper Serica. Deeptech startup AquaAirX, which is building autonomous amphibious robotic systems for defence and commercial applications, raised $1.4 million in a seed round led by Rainmatter. Prime Venture Partners, Wyser and India Accelerator participated in the round. On-demand recycling platform ScrapUncle raised $2.4 million in a pre-Series A round led by Orios Venture Partners and Acumen Fund. Deeptech startup Vimag Labs raised $5 million in a round led by Accel. Chakra Growth Fund and Thinkuvate participated in the round. Apparel brand CAVA Athleisure raised $4.3 million in a Series C round led by Sharrp Ventures.
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of deals reported this week. Based on information available in the public domain including company filings, press releases and reports published by media outlets.
Quickly before we go
Union Budget 2026 comes up on Sunday. The recent Supreme Court ruling on Tiger Global has ruffled investors across the board. Will the Budget serve up anything to reassure investors? We’ll know soon enough.
Have a good week ahead.
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Wow, didn't realize how much of a windfal those PE investors are looking at! The bit about Eight Roads' 10x gains is really telling. Such a clear explanation, thanks for this!