Ikea-backed home decor startup Livspace is set to file for shifting its domicile to India from Singapore and has secured in-principle approval from the board for this, founder Ramakant Sharma told ET.
The company plans to launch its initial public offering by the end of 2025 or early 2026, but the final timing may still change, he said.
The Indian government recently removed the requirement for National Company Law Tribunal approval for flipping domicile to India, cutting down the time required for the shift. Livspace could become one of the first companies to seek approval under this new regime.
“We have plans for an IPO in 2026 or even late 2025 but it would be somewhere around that, as we definitely plan to go public in the next 18-24 months. There are very few consumer internet firms growing 35-40% annually while being profitable at that scale,” said Sharma, who is also the chief operating officer at Livspace.
An initial read of the policy change on domicile flipping indicates the overall timeline will come down significantly to close the migration of holding companies here, he said.
“We haven’t yet initiated the process, but we’ll initiate soon. The flipping process is critical to our IPO of course, and the government is really helpful (with recent policy change),” said Sharma, who is also an active angel investor.
Livspace would be joining a growing list of top-tier Indian startups that have domiciles in Singapore and the US. ET has been reporting about firms like Razorpay, Meesho, Pine Labs, Eruditus, Kreditbee and Zepto looking to move their holding companies to India, essentially to launch their IPOs at some point over the next two-three years.
Several startups that are now large firms had set up overseas bases for easier funding as well as due to easier tax policies in such jurisdictions. Over the past few years, the Indian government has been working on improving regulation to attract such companies back.
Livspace, also backed by TPG and KKR, is currently on a Rs 1,500 crore revenue run-rate based on its August numbers for FY25. Sharma said the company will be Ebitda profitable in the current financial year after having strengthened its financials.
“In FY24, we were minus 9% Ebitda and that was minus 4% in August. We will be positive Ebitda by March 2025,” he said, adding that the company reported operating revenue of Rs 1,200 crore in FY24 with a net loss of Rs 246 crore. For FY23, it reported Rs 1,147 crore in revenue.
Sharma said the company is on the hunt for consumer brand acquisition that will add to its existing business, instead of acquiring a company in its core area of expertise. “We are working with a banker also for the same, but it would be a consumer brand in appliances and home furnishing business. We have also started building this organically,” he said, adding that the company will double the number of stores to 200 by March.
“The offline expansion is led by non-metro markets. Towns like Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Jammu and Kashmir, Guwahati have done really well for us,” Sharma said. The company is adding five-six stores every month, he said.
In its bid to focus on high-margin businesses, it has exited all business-to-business deals, for example with commercial offices, citing low margins.
Livspace, according to Sharma, offers its services in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore through various brands like Bello (Rs 1-3 lakh), Select, Vesta and Vinciago (in the range of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 1 crore).
Livespace turned a unicorn in 2022, following a $180 million funding round at an over $1 billion valuation.
Source Homevior.in
