Snapdeal Parent AceVector Opens ₹420-Crore IPO, Betting That a Leaner, Value-Focused Model Can Win Over Public Markets

More than a decade after it was one of India's most highly valued internet companies, Snapdeal is heading to the stock market.

AceVector Limited, the Gurugram-headquartered parent of the Snapdeal marketplace, opened its initial public offering for subscription on Friday, September 25. The issue, priced at ₹30 to ₹32 per share, closes on Tuesday, September 29. Anchor investors were able to bid a day earlier, on September 24.

At the upper end of the band, the IPO is worth about ₹420 crore. It comprises a fresh issue of shares worth ₹287 crore and an offer for sale of up to 4.16 crore shares, worth about ₹133 crore, by existing shareholders. AceVector would have a post-issue market capitalisation of about ₹1,741 crore at the top of the price band.

Investors can bid for a minimum of 468 shares, which means a retail investor needs ₹14,976 to apply at the upper price. The shares are proposed to be listed on both BSE and the National Stock Exchange, with NSE as the designated exchange. Seventy-five per cent of the offer is reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15% for non-institutional investors and 10% for retail investors.

One company, three businesses

AceVector is not simply Snapdeal. The company brings together three distinct businesses under one holding structure, created in 2022.

The first is Snapdeal, a marketplace focused on value-conscious shoppers, many of them outside India's largest cities. The second is Unicommerce eSolutions, a software-as-a-service company that helps online sellers and brands manage orders, inventory and warehouses. Unicommerce listed on the stock exchanges in 2024 and remains a subsidiary of AceVector. The third is Stellaro Brands, which builds and operates consumer brands.

The IPO documents show how important the software business has become. In FY26, Snapdeal's marketplace contributed ₹293.7 crore, or about 57.5% of AceVector's operating revenue. The SaaS business contributed ₹204.3 crore, or roughly 40%, while Stellaro accounted for ₹12.8 crore.

The difference in profitability is even starker. According to figures reported by Inc42, the SaaS business earned an adjusted EBITDA profit of ₹41.3 crore in FY26, up from ₹25.3 crore a year earlier, and grew its client base by 17.9% to 8,261. The marketplace, by contrast, reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of ₹50.2 crore.

A sharply narrower loss

AceVector's overall numbers show a company that has cut its losses significantly while returning to growth.

Operating revenue rose 29.2% to ₹510.3 crore in FY26, from ₹395 crore a year earlier. Net loss fell 64% to ₹45.5 crore from ₹126.3 crore, and the adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed by 59.3% to ₹15.9 crore.

Snapdeal's marketplace recorded net merchandise value of ₹1,093.1 crore in the year, delivered 2.6 crore units and served about 1.2 crore annual transacting users.

Costs, however, remain a watch point. Total expenses rose 26.8% to ₹575.2 crore. Logistics costs climbed 56.8% to ₹240.4 crore, employee benefit expenses increased 13.2% to ₹168.9 crore and marketing spending rose 26.2% to ₹91.3 crore.

Where the money will go

Of the net proceeds from the fresh issue, AceVector plans to use ₹132 crore for marketing and business promotion of its marketplace, and ₹50 crore for technology infrastructure for the marketplace. The remainder will go towards inorganic growth through acquisitions and general corporate purposes. The company had already raised ₹13 crore in a pre-IPO placement, which is being adjusted against the fresh issue.

The offer for sale gives some existing investors a partial exit. The largest seller is Starfish I Pte Ltd, a SoftBank entity and the promoter selling shareholder, which is offering up to about 2.76 crore shares. Other selling shareholders include Nexus Venture Partners entities and a number of individual investors.

The company is promoted by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Kumar Bansal, who founded Snapdeal in 2010, along with SoftBank.

From unicorn to value player

Snapdeal's journey has been one of the most dramatic in Indian e-commerce. In the mid-2010s, it was among the country's best-funded internet start-ups and a direct challenger to Flipkart and Amazon. A failed merger attempt with Flipkart in 2017 marked a turning point, after which the company sharply cut costs and repositioned itself around value e-commerce, serving price-sensitive shoppers with unbranded and low-cost products.

AceVector had also planned a public listing in 2021, but that attempt was shelved amid market volatility. The current offer is considerably smaller than the valuations Snapdeal once commanded in private markets, reflecting both the reset in the company's ambitions and investors' more disciplined approach to loss-making internet businesses.

The competitive challenge

Value e-commerce is now one of the most crowded segments of Indian online retail. Snapdeal competes with Meesho, which has built a large marketplace for low-price products, as well as with value-focused offerings from Flipkart and Amazon. Quick-commerce companies are also expanding their catalogues, adding pressure on marketplaces that sell everyday items.

Against that backdrop, Snapdeal's relatively modest scale is both a risk and a potential opportunity. The company will need to show that its marketing investment can drive profitable growth rather than simply buying users. The fast rise in logistics costs will also need to be controlled if the marketplace is to move towards profitability.

What investors should weigh

For potential investors, the AceVector IPO offers exposure to two quite different businesses under one ticker: a profitable, growing SaaS company with a stable client base, and a loss-making marketplace in a highly competitive market. The listed status of Unicommerce also gives investors a way to value part of AceVector's portfolio independently.

The key questions are whether the marketplace can narrow its losses as it spends more on marketing, whether the SaaS business can maintain its growth and margins, and whether the company's acquisition plans add value.

The timing is also delicate. The IPO opens after one of the weakest days for Indian equities this year, with the Sensex having fallen more than 1,200 points on September 24 on rising global bond yields. Market sentiment over the next few days could influence demand, particularly from institutional investors.

For India's start-up ecosystem, AceVector's listing is a notable moment. It shows that companies that once raised capital at peak valuations can still reach the public markets after a period of restructuring — even if at a very different price. For Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, it closes a chapter that began more than 15 years ago and opens a new one under the scrutiny of public investors.