More than two decades ago, when Rakesh and Rashmi Verma decided to create a digital map of India, the couple was literally walking into new territory. Long before Google revolutionized web cartography, Verma painstakingly charted the streets and landmarks of India’s mega-cities on foot.
Verma’s startup enjoyed resounding success during its business debut following its initial public offering. MapMyIndia stock rose nearly 35% to 1,393.65 Indian rupees ($18.4), taking the couple’s net worth to about $586 million. It was a fittingly bold start for a company selling digital maps and geographic data covering India’s challenging topography.
A strong market debut marks several recent highs for MapmyIndia, formally known as CE Info Systems Ltd. Earlier this month, the company reported that it had received bids for more than 150 times the number of shares in its initial public offering. Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Among them are those who have bought the company’s software.
The husband-and-wife team, who own about 54% of the company after the IPO, are the latest founders to strike gold during this year’s stock market boom. India’s startups, in particular, are buoyed by strong pandemic-driven demand for e-commerce and online services. Domestic businesses like MapmyIndia have led the way in new fundraising, setting IPO records and prickling the ears of investors looking for the next big market in Asia.
“When we started, no one understood the mapping data,” Rakesh said in a telephone interview prior to the listing. “Now, 25 years later, mapping data is pervasive across businesses, industries, state-owned companies and ministries,” he said.
The startup reported a 31% profit margin for the last financial year with revenues of Rs 1.92 billion ($25 million) and a net profit of Rs 594.3 million. Its profit margin jumped to 46% for the first two quarters of the current year ending September.
Rakesh, 71, and Rashmi, 65, started their company in the mid-1990s, when businesses had little interest in buying mapping data. At that time, public internet access was not introduced in India. Startups have yet to define the culture of today’s tech havens, including Bengaluru and Gurgaon.
As the entrepreneurial field deepened in India, Verma stood out for his staying power. Rashmi runs the technology arm of the business, serving as its Chief Technology Officer. Rakesh was instrumental in expanding into sectors ranging from automotive to state-owned companies.
His skill-set was sharpened abroad. In the late 1970s, after graduating from elite engineering schools in India, Verma moved to the US, where he completed a bachelor’s degree and began a successful corporate career. Rakesh climbed the ranks in General Motors Company. Rashmi created the computer database at International Business Machines Corp. When the couple returned to India, they identified a niche in digital mapping that was beginning to take hold in the developed world.
At that time, “databases were tabular, data was thought in megabytes and there was no internet,” Rashmi said. CE Info Systems was incorporated in February 1995.
The couple said that the first few years of mapping India were more or less a nightmare. Rakesh would often join surveyors on the streets of Mumbai, where the team entered the addresses manually. As technology improved, triangulating the data helped capture the further corners of the country.
The gambling paid off. Barely a year after starting business, The Coca-Cola Company hired Varma to chart their distributorships, which over the years were delimited by vague markers such as “by a river” or “next to a highway”. went. Motorola, Ericsson AB and Qualcomm Inc. The company followed suit, contracting the company to map terrain and locate its mobile towers. In 2004, Rakesh and Rashmi unveiled India’s first interactive map platform.
MapmyIndia, an IPO worth Rs 1,040 crore, went live for subscription on December 9. The company had fixed a price band of Rs 1,000-1,033 per equity share.
Shares of MapmyIndia’s parent company CE Info Systems will hit the stock market today as MapmyIndia IPO is set to be listed in the Indian market on 21st December 2021. The Rs 1,040 crore public issue, which opened for three days from December 9-12, was subscribed a total of 154.71 times. Ahead of its listing, MapmyIndia IPO stock is showing promise as its gray market premium continues to remain high.
The IPO of CE Info Systems or MapmyIndia went live for subscription on 9th December. The company had fixed a price band of Rs 1,000-1,033 per equity share for the Rs 1,040 crore-IPO. MapMyIndia, which powers Apple Maps, has held its IPO entirely on OFS (Offer for Sale) by existing shareholders and promoters up to 10,063,945 shares. Rashmi Veri sold 42.51 lakh shares, Qualcomm Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. sold 27.01 lakh shares and Zenrin Company Ltd. put on sale 13.7 lakh equity shares. In addition, 17.41 lakh shares were sold by other shareholders.
According to market observers, GMP or gray market premium is an indication of the stock getting listed in the unlisted market. The premium in the informal market of a stock predicts its premium as it is going to be listed on the Indian markets- BSE and NSE. As per the latest update, MapmyIndia IPO was trading in gray market at a premium of Rs 700, which is higher than its issue price of Rs 1000 to Rs 1033. The issue is managed by JM Financial, Axis Capital, DAM. Capital Advisors, and Kotak Mahindra Capital are showing great promise as per the unlisted market.
The Delhi-headquartered company is backed by semiconductor company Qualcomm and Japanese digital mapping genin. It is a leading provider of digital maps, location-based IoT technologies and geospatial software.
The company provides products, platforms, APIs and solutions across a range of digital map data, IoT (Internet of Things) and software under the MapmyIndia and Mappls brands. Some of its customers are Flipkart, PhonePe, HDFC Bank, Yulu, Hyundai, Airtel, Avis, Apple, MG Motor, Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) and SafeExpress. E-commerce food delivery platforms Grofers, McDonald’s and Cars24 use MapmyIndia maps. The store locators of companies like Bajaj Finserv, Prasar Bharati DTH Dealer Locator and SBI Branch Locator use the same.