Can ESDS Ace The IPO Test?
ESDS Software Solution’s public issue is all set to open for subscription later today. The data centre company’s fresh issue-only IPO will look to bring the much needed capital to add GPUs and pursue sovereign cloud ambitions. But with competition rising, will ESDS’ IPO find takers?
ESDS’s IPO Stack: The data centre company’s public issue consists entirely of a fresh issue of shares worth ₹720 Cr, with no offer for sale. Ahead of the IPO, ESDS yesterday raised ₹216 Cr from anchor investors such as Motilal Oswal, Quant MF, JM Financial MF and Samco. Notably, domestic mutual funds cornered 82% of the total anchor allotment.
The Number Game: ESDS Software Solution delivered a healthy FY26, driven by a surge in profitability and substantial operational leverage across its core cloud, SaaS and managed services segments.
- Revenue from operations grew around 31% YoY to ₹472 Cr
- Net profit zoomed 117% YoY to ₹120.8 Cr
- EBITDA margin expanded to 49.6%
- Expenses rose 6.5% YoY to ₹313.2 Cr
Enterprise-Grade Scale: As per its RHP, ESDS currently serves over 2,500 clients, including over 170 banking entities and 100 government organisations. This deep penetration in regulated sectors via community clouds yields recurring revenues and sticky client relationships. What also works for the company is its indigenous Swaraj Cloud platform, which reins in expensive third-party software licensing costs and unlocks long-term operating leverage.
Caught In Pricing War: Despite the demand, escalating hardware prices mean that the proceeds from the IPO will buy significantly fewer GPU and servers than ESDS initially projected. This could constrain planned capacity expansion. In addition, the company also faces intense competition from global hyperscalers and domestic conglomerates expanding into India’s data center market.
Additionally, high customer concentration, lingering government payment cycles and severe hypothecation of current assets also present ongoing working capital risks. With much on its plate, can ESDS deliver a bumper IPO? Let’s find out…
From The Editor’s Desk
✂️ Even Axes 350 Jobs
- The healthtech startup has laid off around 350 employees, or nearly 30% of its total workforce. The retrenchments, which impacted multiple teams, aimed to slash costs, improve efficiency and route capital to the startup’s new business model.
- The layoffs come as Even Healthcare phases down its insurance business to pivot to a hospital-led healthcare model. It launched its first multispeciality hospital in Bengaluru last year and has been expanding its footprint in the city.
- Founded in 2020, Even Healthcare operates a membership-based healthcare model that offers primary care, diagnostics and hospital services. The startup also offers health insurance plans covering hospitalisation. It has raised $90 Mn to date.
💰 InstaAstro Bags $12 Mn
- The online astrology platform has raised about ₹115 Cr in its Series A round led by Singularity AMC and Artha Venture Fund to expand its footprint, strengthen its pooja seva offerings, scaling AI-led development and grow its product business.
- Founded in 2021, InstaAstro connects users with astrologers and tarot card readers. It also offers pooja seva, astrology courses, accessories and gemstones. It claims to have 12 Mn registered users and more than 5,000 verified experts across 183 countries.
- The round comes as India’s online faith commerce ecosystem is projected to become a $1.8 Bn opportunity by 2030. As a result, the number of spiritual tech startups in the country has grown to over 1,400.
💊 Temple Acquires Longevous
- Ahead of the launch of its first product, the Deepinder Goyal-led wearable startup has acquired the London-based longevity medicine practice for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, Longevous founders Robert Mohr and Avi Roy will join Temple.
- While Mohr will join Temple as its chief medical officer and will oversee the clinical rigour of the startup’s experiments and health-related claims, Roy will take over as the startup’s head of science.
- The acquisition comes days after Goyal unveiled the latest design of Temple’s wearable. He also said pre-orders for a limited-edition version will open soon, with shipments expected by the end of 2026.
🚁 Raphe mPhibr’s Quiet Ascent
- Siblings Vivek and Vikash Mishra caught the attention of Indian government agencies when they built an octocopter during their university break in the US and posted it online. This paved the way for them to pursue indigenous drone R&D.
- After years of low-profile work, the Noida-based startup brought its technology into the public view after its drones were deployed during Operation Sindoor in 2025. Since then, Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 Mn and is currently valued at $900 Mn.
- Today, it designs and makes a host of UAVs for surveillance, logistics and other defence use cases. It also employs around 1,000 people, operates a 7 Lakh sq ft manufacturing campus and supplies more than 300 logistics drones to the Indian Army.
🏨 PRISM’s FY26 Profit Soars
- The IPO-bound hospitality giant’s net profit soared 306% YoY to ₹994.2 Cr in FY26 on the back of a tax gain of ₹595.3 Cr, AI-led efficiencies and operating revenue zooming nearly 50% YoY to ₹9,358 Cr in the fiscal under review.
- Meanwhile, EBITDA more than doubled YoY to ₹2,594 Cr in FY26, while its gross booking value zoomed 88.5% YoY to ₹30,683 Cr. Hotel storefronts, excluding G6, grew to 22,769 during the year and home storefronts stood at 1.3 Lakh.
- The financials come as PRISM gears up to list on the bourses. The OYO parent has filed its updated DRHP with SEBI for a public issue, which will consist solely of a fresh issue of shares up to ₹6,650 Cr and no OFS.
Inc42 Markets
Inc42 Startup Spotlight
How SenseLive Is Making Factories Smarter
Many Indian factories still rely on manual monitoring and disconnected systems. This leaves them blind to energy waste, machine faults and downtime until it is too late. SenseLive is tackling this gap with its end-to-end industrial IoT platform.
Industrial Intelligence: Founded in 2022, SenseLive builds industrial IoT hardware, gateways and sensors paired with a cloud analytics layer. Its platform provides real-time visibility into energy consumption, machine health and production performance, helping factories move from reactive maintenance to predictive strategies.
The Predictive Care: SenseLive’s solutions span energy management, machine and condition monitoring and predictive maintenance. The startup’s edge devices, such as its X9000 4G gateway, collect data from controllers and sensors, perform local processing and transmit insights to the cloud for dashboards, alerts and optimisation.
The Industry 4.0 Pitch: The startup positions itself as a bridge for factories transitioning to Industry 4.0. It supports remote diagnostics, factory digitalisation and OEE monitoring. Incubated at IIT Indore, SenseLive also exports its hardware to international markets. Going forward, it plans to bolster product development and scale deployments.
With the global industrial IoT market projected to exceed $286 Bn by 2029, can SenseLive make fragmented factory floors intelligent and energy-efficient?
Infographic Of The Day
The festive season is almost here and there’s one gift India can never seem to get enough of: chocolates. From craft chocolatiers to premium gift boxes, there’s a whole ecosystem building around India’s sweet tooth…
