AceVector’s IPO is interesting for one reason: it shows how investors can be right about a market and still lose almost everything.
SoftBank is selling shares worth about ₹88 crore. Those shares have an average acquisition cost of ₹382.40 each. The IPO price is ₹32. That means shares which effectively cost around ₹1,056 crore are being sold for roughly ₹88 crore. Foxconn-linked FIH Business Global is worse off. Its average acquisition cost is ₹762.60 a share. At ₹32, it is recovering barely 4% of that price.
The easy conclusion is that Snapdeal failed. But that misses the larger point.
Snapdeal’s investors were mostly right about Indian ecommerce. Smartphones became cheap, UPI exploded, logistics improved, online shopping became mainstream and the market became far larger than it was in 2015. What they got wrong was Snapdeal’s place in that market.
At its peak, Snapdeal was valued at about $6.5 billion. That valuation was not simply saying ecommerce would grow. It was saying Snapdeal would remain one of the two or three dominant horizontal marketplaces in India. That did not happen.
By FY16, Snapdeal had revenue of about ₹1,457 crore and losses of nearly ₹2,960 crore. Amazon kept spending. Flipkart kept raising money and later got Walmart behind it. Snapdeal could no longer afford the same fight.
This is where the investor losses came from. They paid for market leadership before market leadership had actually been decided.
The contrast between investors makes this clear. Kenneth Glass has an average acquisition cost of ₹5.90 a share and is exiting at ₹32, giving him around 5.4x. SoftBank’s average cost is ₹382.40. Same company, same IPO price, very different outcome.
The difference is entry price.
AceVector today is also a very different business. FY26 revenue was around ₹510 crore and losses fell to about ₹46 crore. Its SaaS businesses contributed roughly ₹204 crore of revenue and about ₹41 crore of adjusted EBITDA, while Snapdeal’s marketplace lost around ₹50 crore.
Ironically, the smaller software business is now helping support the ecommerce business that once attracted the multibillion-dollar valuation.
The bigger question is what happens next. AceVector plans to spend around ₹132 crore of IPO proceeds on Snapdeal marketing and another ₹50 crore on technology. Public shareholders are effectively being asked to fund growth in a business that has already consumed huge amounts of capital once before.
The lesson from AceVector is simple. Investors were right about ecommerce. They were wrong about how much of Snapdeal’s future had already been earned when they paid for it.
Let’s go through what else is happening in Indian startup world - Grab your simmering cup of StartupChai.in and unwind with our hand-brewed memes.
“Tum Toh Deshdrohi Ho”: Bitchat Goes Offline In India
Jack Dorsey-founded decentralised messaging app Bitchat has been removed from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store in India, following a MeitY order.
The app’s anonymous messaging had reportedly raised concerns over traceability during investigations.
Read more here
“Paisa Laya?”: ideaForge Faces ₹109 Cr GST Demand
ideaForge faces a ₹109.2 Cr GST demand and penalty over alleged tax underpayment.
The drone maker faces the liability despite the government clarifying that drones attract 5% GST.
Read more here
“Girvi Rakh Ke Game Mein”: Bhavish Aggarwal Pledges 4.32% Ola Electric Stake
Ola Electric promoter Bhavish Aggarwal has pledged a 4.32% stake in the company to finance his participation in its upcoming rights issue. Ola’s board previously approved raising up to ₹1,000 Cr through the offering.
The company clarified that no shares are being sold.
Read more here
“Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar”: SoftBank Pockets ₹88 Cr in Snapdeal IPO
SoftBank-backed Starfish I pocketed ₹88.3 Cr from AceVector’s IPO OFS.
While some investors made multibagger returns, several institutional holders booked losses.
Read more here
“Idli Se Noodle Tak Ka Faasla”: Karnataka Seeks Deeper Ties With Korea
Karnataka is turning Korea fever into business, eyeing partnerships spanning K-pop, AI, semiconductors and more.
A Korean business delegation met Minister Priyank Kharge to explore investments.
Read more here
“Mubarakan Ji Mubarakan”: OTPless Elevates Manas Poddar As CBO
OTPless has elevated early team member Manas Poddar as Chief Business Officer.
The move comes as the startup expands beyond authentication into broader identity infrastructure.
Read more here
“Swagat Nahi Karoge Humara”: Mayank Khanduja Joins Bessemer Venture Partners As Partner
Mayank Khanduja has joined Bessemer Venture Partners as Partner after a 15-year stint at Elevation Capital.
He will focus on early-stage investments in India.
Read more here
“Badmasho Ki Dhulai”: Sebi Working On Second Surveillance System
Sebi is building a new surveillance system to spot “bad elements” among listed companies.
The aim is to eventually delist them.
Read more here
