Between 2021 and 2023, the Indian bourses saw a flurry of listing activity from prominent digital-first startups. Companies that disrupted the landscape and had the attention of investors and consumers. In the first part of this story, we looked at three consumer-tech companies, Zomato, Nykaa and Paytm. In part 2, we are looking at two other high-profile listings: insurance-aggregator and fintech company PolicyBazaar, and Honasa Consumer, a digital-first house of personal care brands and parent company of beauty and wellness brand MamaEarth.
PolicyBazaar: Slow and steady
Listing date: 15 November 2021, ₹940 – ₹980 per share
PB Fintech, the parent of PolicyBazaar, listed at ₹980 in November 2021 and managed to raise ₹5,625 crore through its IPO. The post-listing journey has been a mixed bag: while the company has seen volatility on the bourses, Policybazaar has demonstrated strong revenue growth and business expansion. From a net loss of ₹833 crore in FY2022, they have grown to a net profit of ₹72 crore as of Q3FY2024. And this has been thanks to a focus on expanding the business smartly.
PolicyBazaar has strategically diversified its offerings beyond insurance aggregation. The company’s credit marketplace, Paisabazaar, has become a significant contributor, disbursing loans worth ₹14,800 crore and issuing 5.8 lakh credit cards in FY24. 2023 saw the launch of PBFB or PolicyBazaar for Business, which gives clients access to wide range of insurance offerings that are designed to safeguard business interests. In 2024, PolicyBazaar entered into a strategic partnership with ICICI Lombard, one of India’s leading private general insurance companies, to offer its products on the PB platform. Plus,
PolicyBazaar has a global presence in the UAE (policybazaar.ae), where it launched a new vertical this year called PB Advantage, which offers benefits like 30-minute claims assistance.
For PolicyBazaar, growth has been at a slow-and-steady pace and the company has managed to avoid mounting huge losses in the past two years. Thanks to a focus on stabilising its digital insurance and lending services and reducing marketing and promotional expenditure, the company has managed to grow and improve profits in the last few quarters. Today it remains the market leader in insurance aggregation. In March 2025, the scrip hit a record-high of over ₹2017 (the uptick came on the heels of the board approving the incorporation of a healthcare subsidiary that would cater to health care and allied services).
Long-term success, however, will depend on the company’s ability to handle pressure from legacy players in the offline offline insurance space and any regulatory changes that may crop up.
MamaEarth: Navigating growth and profitability in the public markets
Listing date: 10 November 2023, ₹308 – ₹324 per share
Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, was the most recent among this cohort to go public, listing in November 2023 at ₹324 per share. Honasa Consumer is perhaps India’s largest digital-first beauty and personal care company, with a diverse portfolio of brands, including Mamaearth, The Derma Co, Aqualogica, BBlunt, Dr Sheth’s and others. However, despite being a well-known personal care brand, Honasa has had a rocky post-listing journey.
After a period of initial gains, the company faced a sharp decline, particularly in November 2024 after reporting its first quarterly loss since its IPO, and shares fell below listing price. For the September quarter that year, Honasa reported a net loss of ₹19 crore, a drop from a profit of ₹29 crore in the same period in the previous year.
But there was a reason for this: Honasa made a strategic shift in their distribution model under their initiative called “Project Neev,” which led to a one-time inventory correction. In the top 50 cities they operate in, Honasa decided to move to a direct distribution model, phasing out the use of super stockists, which is why financials took a hit.
Honasa has been actively increasing its offline presence for years, to complement its online sales. As of December 2024, Honasa has a presence in 2,16,814 FMCG retail outlets across India through its brand Mamaearth, reflecting a 22% YoY increase in distribution. Their omnichannel strategy includes a presence on most quick-commerce apps as well.
Honasa has certainly grown since its listing, with robust online sales and an expansion in its brand portfolio. The acquisition of popular brands like BBlunt and Dr Sheth’s, as well as premium skincare startup CosmoGenesis labs, have been a growth driver. (CosmoGenesis provides cosmetic product development services for beauty brands in the skincare industry.)
Honasa’s latest earnings (Q3FY2025) don’t show much of an increase, with revenue for the at Rs 518 crore against Rs 488 crore in Q3FY24, marking a 6 per cent increase, and PAT flat at Rs 26.02 crore against Rs 25.9 crore for the same period in the previous year. In spite of the speedbumps, Honasa has two things on their side that can help them continue to grow.
- Diversification: They’ve successfully scaled multiple brands (Mamaearth, The Derma Co, Dr. Sheth’s, and Aqualogica), which shows strong capabilities to diversify within the beauty and personal care (BPC) market and effectively address varied consumer needs.
- Omnichannel strategy: Their omnichannel strategy complements the above, since they are able to reach more consumers and remain agile in response to evolving market trends.
The real test for Honasa will be its ability to scale in a sustainable manner in a crowded market that has long been dominated by legacy FMCG brands that cater to multiple price points.
Adaptability is key
India’s digital-first companies have experienced varied trajectories since their public listings. As private, well-funded startups, the focus was on growth at any cost, which has now perhaps given way to a focus on bottom-line results as listed entities.
While some companies have demonstrated robust growth and profitability, others are still on the path to achieving consistent financial performance. As these companies navigate their unique challenges and the demands of consumers and the market, their ability to adapt will determine whether they can sustain and deliver long-term value. The bigger picture seems to be that India is fertile ground for multiple consumer-focused companies that have the ability to execute on digital channels.
Sources