Shadowfax's long-awaited public debut turned into a rough landing. The Bengaluru-based logistics firm saw shares tumble 9% on Wednesday, closing at ₹112.60 after pricing its IPO at ₹124, as investors balked at the company's heavy dependence on a handful of e-commerce giants. The $208 million offering valued Shadowfax at roughly $706 million, barely above its last private round valuation of $655 million just months ago. For a company riding India's quick-commerce boom, the muted reception signals that growth alone won't cut it when three-quarters of your revenue comes from just four clients.
Shadowfax just learned a hard lesson about going public in India's logistics sector. The third-party delivery provider's shares slid 9% on their Wednesday debut, closing at ₹112.60 against an offer price of ₹124, as investors zeroed in on a glaring vulnerability buried in the company's prospectus - nearly three-quarters of its revenue flows from just four clients.
The $208 million IPO valued the Bengaluru firm at roughly $706 million at debut, barely nudging past its $655 million private valuation from early 2025. The offering, which saw subscription levels hit nearly three times over according to JM Financial, combined fresh capital with share sales from early backers including Flipkart, Eight Roads Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, and Qualcomm. But that institutional pedigree couldn't offset investor jitters about concentration risk.
Here's what spooked the market - Flipkart, Meesho, Zepto and Zomato together account for about 74% of Shadowfax's revenue, according to the company's prospectus. In an industry where client relationships can shift overnight and platforms increasingly build their own logistics arms, that's a red flag investors couldn't ignore. The World Bank-backed International Finance Corporation, TPG NewQuest and Flipkart remain key shareholders, but even that backing couldn't cushion the debut.
