Curefoods Pauses Public Debut Following Flipkart and PhonePe: Why Companies Are Deferring IPOs

Cloud kitchen startup, Curefoods has delayed its initial public offering (IPO) plans on hold. The development comes months after receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

According to a report by the Economic Times, the company has decided to defer its listing amid choppy markets. The company was seeking to raise Rs 800 crore through the public issue at a valuation of about Rs 4,000 crore according to the company’s Draft Red Herring Prospectus. However, the report stated that the company did not get approval from mutual funds for the valuation it was seeking.

Curefoods decision to delay its public issue, follows similar announcements by other firms such as Walmart-backed PhonePe which postponed its $1.3 billion IPO. Earlier in May, Flipkart also indefinitely paused its IPO discussions, citing factors such as increasing volatility and concerns around investor appetite.

Why Companies are Putting Their IPOs on Hold

For Curefoods the decision to pause its public issue came as mutual funds resisted the Rs 4,000 crore valuation sought by the company. According to the company’s draft papers filed with the Sebi, the company posted a total income of 775.489 crore for FY25, increasing by 22 per cent from Rs 635.08 crore in the previous fiscal year. The company’s loss narrowed to Rs 169.96 crore in FY25 compared to Rs 172.61 crore in FY24.

Beyond valuation concerns, the reasons contributing to companies pausing their public issues include investors becoming more discerning while investing in IPOs. Amid a broader pressure on the secondary market from unending geopolitical tensions in West Asia, investors are likely to put a lot of emphasis on profitability, growth rates, and sustainable pricing.

Companies across sectors seem to be pulling back due to heightened market volatility and a crowded pipeline of upcoming issues which can potentially dilute investor appetite.  Notably, the trend is further accommodated by the regulatory framework provided by Sebi.

Sebi currently provides a 12-month window from the date of the final observation letter for companies to launch their public issues. For companies that choose the confidential pre-filing route, the market regulator extends the validity of the final observation letter up to 18 months. The regulator has established a cut-off window for observation letters set to expire between April 1, 2026, and September 30, 2026.  Any company whose IPO approval was scheduled to lapse during this six-month window has had its validity automatically extended until September 30, 2026.  The provision provides companies an option to delay their public issue rather than rushing into a cold or unsupportive market.

IPO Pipeline For 2026 Remains Robust

Even as companies seek to delay their public issues, several major firms are pushing ahead with their public issue processes. Quick commerce major Zepto received Sebi approval in May and is currently eyeing a listing in the upcoming months, targeting a massive public market debut.  On the other hand, Reliance Industries is also moving forward with its public listing of Jio.

These large public issues have not been delayed yet given the underlying retail and institutional sentiment remaining robust for fundamentally strong. Recently, the resilient primary market appetite was demonstrated by the heavy participation in the CMR Green Technologies IPO, which closed after being oversubscribed by more than 127 times.