Nykaa, a cosmetics-to-fashion platform, soared 96 percent in a broadway relaunch on Wednesday, valuing the country’s first women-led unicorn at nearly $14 billion. Shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the company which owns the Nykaa brand, closed at 2,205.80 rupees after beginning the day at 2,018 rupees.
The debut price was 79.4 percent higher than the offer price of 1,125 rupees, and the shares were nearly 82 times overloaded last week.
Nykaa, founded in 2012 by former investment banker Falguni Nayar, rose to prominence by generating profit and personal care products from domestic & global franchises before branching out into fashion, pet care, and household items.
“Nykaa is one of the very few commercially viable new-age companies and the first women-led unicorn that has also piqued the attention of a lot of investors…,” said Sneha Poddar, assistant vice president, retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“One of its key strengths is its stock levels business strategy for the personal care and cosmetics section.”
TPG, Fidelity, and Indian celebrities Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif are among Nykaa’s investors.
As of Aug. 31, the startup had 80 brick-and-mortar stores in India, as well as an online presence via mobile applications and websites.Nykaa outperformed Indian food delivery startup Zomato Ltd’s stellar $13.28 billion debut in July, with a valuation of nearly $14 billion.
“Because of the positive market sentiment, Nykaa has seen a strong listing… Despite the startup’s strong long-term growth prospects, the startup’s valuations appear costly at some of these levels “Religare Broking’s vice-president-research, Ajit Mishra, agreed. Paytm, an Indian fintech firm, saw tepid requirement for its share capital earlier in the day, creeping toward the full subscribing in the final moments of its issue time frame, in marked contrast to shareholder optimism for Startups in india.
