From a fashion-based quick delivery platform (Fashnear) in 2015 to a social commerce network, to a full-stack ecommerce model, and finally to a technology enabler of logistics companies, Meesho’s penchant for experimentation and iteration are an open secret.

Now the SoftBank-backed company is entering one of the largest public markets in the world with its INR 5,421 Cr listing. On November 28, Meesho stated that it has set a price band of INR 105 to INR 111 for its initial public offering (IPO), which is set to open on December 3.

The Meesho IPO will comprise a fresh issue of up to INR 4,250 Cr and an OFS of up to 10.55 Cr shares. At the upper end of the price band, the total IPO size would be INR 5,421 Cr (about $606.2 Mn).

As the first horizontal ecommerce company in India to go public, all eyes will be on how Meesho tackles the challenges of profitability and balancing this with innovation, iteration and product pivots.

One could say that this challenge has been a defining feature of the company’s journey thus far. As it prepares to go public, the Bengaluru-headquartered firm intends to continue innovating even as it looks to improve its profitability, CEO and cofounder Vidit Aatrey told Inc42.

“We will keep experimenting, keep iterating, trying new things. Some of them will work and they will become the next Valmo, the next content commerce platform. Some of them will not work and we will move on from there. So, I think we will continue to take these long-term bets,” Meesho’s Aatrey said ahead of the company’s big week.

He believes there need not be a trade-off between financial discipline and innovation, noting that Meesho has demonstrated this in the past by iterating while simultaneously cutting costs.

For instance, losses fell by 72% YoY to INR 701 Cr in H1 FY26 from INR 2,513 Cr in the year-ago period, as revenue breached the INR 5,500 Cr mark in the first half of the current fiscal year. A large part of this has to do with the company taking charge of its fulfilment stack.

For a company that does not have the long history that Flipkart and Amazon do, the asset-light model built around its in-house logistics platform Valmo has been a game-changer, along with its insistence on not charging sellers a commission.

“It is basically the technology that has supercharged our asset-light infrastructure. You will not find another new-age firm where 57% of its workforce is deployed in the product and technology team. This underlines the centrality of technology to our operations and cost-cutting,” Aatrey told Inc42.

The CEO opened up about the IPO journey, Meesho’s innovative DNA, and why the company is doubling down on affordability rather than chasing the quick commerce frenzy.

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