IPO Update: Wildcraft Eyeing to Launch its IPO in 2022

Wildcraft India, a leading outdoor and adventure products manufacturer backed by venture capital company Sequoia Capital, Flipkart, and private equity firm FidelisWorld, has joined the India IPO bandwagon and begun the process for a 2022 listing.

The company, which started as a hobby by a group of like-minded people interested in climbing and trekking in the 1990s, is hoping to play a role in the storey of India’s self-sufficiency by launching its IPO.

Wildcraft was founded in 1998 and is engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of head-to-toe items for trek-to-travel solutions, according to its website. Its founders include Dinesh KS, Gaurav Dublish, and Siddharth Sood. Sequoia Capital invested $11 million in Wildcraft in 2013.

Later in 2018, the company received financing from Flipkart Group (which provided a distribution channel through Myntra) and Asia-focused fund FidelisWorld (which said it would leverage its global network to help the business grow in India and overseas).

The IPO would be a combination of primary and secondary share issues, allowing investors to take a partial exit while simultaneously raising expansion money. The IPO may be worth more than Rs 750 crores, but it is too early to make a definitive decision on the amount. For the proposed IPO, the company has hired investment banks JM Financial and SBI Capital.

In response to travel restrictions in 2020, the company shifted its focus to manufacturing PPE suits, face masks, and tactical gear in order to increase income. The Bengaluru-based company, which has faced competition from the likes of Decathlon India, had a CAGR of 35-40 percent with a turnover of Rs 400 crore in FY17, Rs 500 crore in FY18, and had set a target of surpassing the Rs 1,000 crore mark by 2020.

Wildcraft Private Limited’s long-term goal is to reduce the amount of material used in the production of outdoor gear and clothing, as this has a greater influence on the environment. The items fulfil the consumer’s requirements, and they have reinvented what the outdoors means to the Indian customer.

Increase the number of retail points of sale throughout India. Wildcraft has formed strategic alliances with e-commerce platforms such as Myntra and Flipkart in order to increase outdoor sales.

According to a publication, the company grew at a compound annual growth rate of 75 % from 2008 to 2012 and continued to grow annually at 50% until 2019 and is now pursuing 25% revenue CAGR (compound annual growth rate).

Wildcraft Private Limited retail sales of ₹400 Cr In FY 2017, and is looking at a total distribution of ₹350 Cr, It’s achieved a revenue run rate of ₹ 1000 Cr at the end of 2020.