FICCI FLO, under the leadership of 43rd National President, Ms. Puja Garg, organized an informative webinar, “From Growth to Listing: Is Your Business IPO Ready,” focused on the IPO listing process for NSE Emerge, a platform specially built for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups.
The virtual session aimed at preparing women-led MSMEs for their IPO listing by discussing NSE Emerge’s listing criteria, regulatory framework, compliance requirements, benefits, and migration to the main board. The session featured the following speakers:
- Paravathi Moorthy, Associate Vice President, National Stock Exchange (NSE).
- Kritika Rupda, Co-founder and Director, Socradamus Capital
- Rupal Mandavia, Managing Director, Fly Wings Simulator Training Centre Ltd.
The three experts shared their knowledge and experience with FLO members on how they can successfully raise funds and issue their shares through SME listing. Profit-making and cash-flow-generating smaller companies are eligible for IPO listing. NSE Emerge is suitable for the listing of women-led MSMEs as it uses the same broker network and trading terminals as the main board of NSE. SME companies can later migrate to the Main Board subject to conditions.
This marketplace provides different benefits to small and medium enterprises, such as easy capital access, brand visibility & credibility, growth opportunities, and better corporate governance. To be IPO-ready, SMEs need compliance preparedness, a governance framework, and financial readiness.
Key Highlights
- Ms. Paravathi Moorthy provided an overview of the NSE Emerge and emphasized its suitability for growth-stage companies with positive net worth and free cash flow equity in at least 2 of 3 years of operation.
- In accordance with SEBI regulations, a public limited company can list on NSE Emerge with paid-up capital below ₹25 crore. Also, SMEs must have at least 25% public shareholding/dilution and 100% underwriting; a market maker is required for 3 years.
- The minimum IPO requirement is 200 allottees, with a minimum application size exceeding ₹2 lakh.
- During her address, Ms. Kritika Rupda said that IPO readiness requires strong financials, robust corporate governance, regulatory compliance, transparent disclosures, and well-defined business processes that meet public market requirements.
- On the other hand, Ms. Rupa Mandavia shared the entire journey of her company’s listing on NSE Emerge. She showcased how the listing transformed an entrepreneur-led business into a stronger institution.
- According to Ms. Mandavia, financial discipline, proper governance, transparency, and starting early with compliance and governance preparations are essential for IPO listing of SMEs.
Impact
The webinar successfully equipped FLO members with the knowledge to understand NSE Emerge eligibility criteria, compliance requirements, and benefits. The virtual session ended with the speakers addressing participants’ queries and emphasizing empowering women entrepreneurs in scaling their business through fundraising by entering the capital market.
The webinar was hosted under the FLO National MSME Initiative, led by Ms. Ruby Garg (Lead) and Ms. Jyoti Jain (Co-Lead), who served as the day chairs with the support of Ms. Neha Reddy (MSME Lead- FLO Hyderabad).