Last week, MapmyIndia filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Indian market regulator Sebi for an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO is an offer-for-sale of up to 75.47 lakhs equity shares at a face value of Rs 2 each.
MapmyIndia has been in the market for over 25 years now and has partners like Honda and Apple. In fact, Apple, Paytm, and PhonePe products use MapmyIndia maps. It defines itself as a technology product and platforms company that offers digital maps as a service. It is also one of India’s top providers of advanced digital maps, location-based IoT technologies, and geospatial software.
Indigenous Digital Map Maker
MapmyIndia was founded by Rakesh and Rashmi Verma in 1995 under the banner CE Info Systems at New Delhi. In its initial days, the company worked on developing a web mapping technology and provided services to enhance marketing and logistics efficiency for organisations in the country. A major breakthrough came for the company almost a decade later with the launch of the interactive digital mapping portal www.mapmyindia.com in 2004; it provided customised location-based services.
Currently, the company claims to have developed digital maps covering 99 per cent of India’s roads. MaymyIndia has also expanded the digital map database to include countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar, and UAE. MapmyIndia uses AI-assisted mapping systems and processes for digital geospatial data acquisition and processing and digital map data productisation and dissemination. The company provides APIs across its platforms and regularly adds functionalities via newer APIs, SDKs, and widgets.
Growth of MapmyIndia (Credit: MapmyIndia)
In the latest news, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) signed an MOU with MapmyIndia to enable map services in the UMANG App. The company is now focusing on the consumer-map business, which Google dominates.
Towards IPO
MapmyIndia has benefitted from the burgeoning Indian market. The total market for the Indian digital map services is expected to grow from $1.7 billion in 2019 to $4.2 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 16.1 per cent between 2020 and 2025. Earlier this year, the government of India updated the mapping policy. The Centre liberalised regulations on geospatial data, making it freely available for innovation and IT companies. Previously, there were significant restrictions on the mapping industry, from creation to the dissemination of maps; companies were required to seek licenses and follow through with numerous pre-approvals and permissions.
Credit: MapmyIndia
MapmyIndia CEO Rohan Verma had called this move a watershed moment for the company as it opens up business for mapping, and the geospatial industry is slated to be worth $14 billion by 2030. With an 80 per cent market share in the B2B mapping industry, MapmyIndia was touted to be the biggest beneficiary of this policy change. “There is a restriction on foreign companies for high-definition and 3D maps, street-view and ground surveys. The policy encourages foreign companies to partner with Indian companies so that the data resides in India,” he said.
Considering these factors, there has not been a better time for a company like MapmyIndia.
In FY21, the company reported revenues of Rs 152 crore. This was 3 per cent higher than FY20. The company’s net profit doubled from Rs 23 crore in FY20 to Rs 59 crore in FY21. MapmyIndia is reportedly the fourth profitable company to go public this fiscal, following the likes of Nykaa, ixigo, and CarTrade.
Indian Companies and IPOs
IPOs are an effective way to raise funds from domestic and overseas investors to scale. However, companies have to check a few boxes before IPOs. This includes having a minimum of Rs 15 crores as average pre-tax operating profit in three years of the immediately preceding five years; strong evidence of growth and thriving business; the company should generate net income and free cash flow on their income statement; the company should also have enough cash on its balance sheet to fund the business to break even.
The pandemic has proven to be a boon for the Indian tech industry. The companies in the Unicorn club grew from 0 to 37 in just ten years (2010-2020); currently, the number of Indian Unicorns is 52. The number is predicted to grow to 100 by 2025.
