Indian startups, investors press PM for direct overseas listing

Prominent Indian startups, investors and investment advisors have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow startups to directly list abroad. The signatories to the letter include unicorns such as Byju’s, Swiggy, Cred, Bharat Pe, and Urban Ladder, and heads of many investment firms who have invested in Indian startups.

The signatories called it the “single most significant big bang reform for the startup ecosystem”. An overseas direct listing would raise the profile of these startups, make a greater capital pool available to them, and allow specialized investors to invest in these companies, especially in sectors such as software-as-a-service, insurance technology, business to business logistics, genomics, and biotechnology, they said.