MapmyIndia Shares Soar 54% in First Day of Trading After IPO

(Bloomberg) -- The stock of MapmyIndia, a digital mapping company that works with Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., surged more than 50% on the first day of trading after the startup’s initial public offering. 

Shares climbed to as high as 1,590 rupees a share before retreating to about 1,400 rupees or about 35% higher than the IPO price.

MapmyIndia, formally named C.E. Info Systems Ltd., was founded by the husband-and-wife team of Rakesh and Rashmi Verma more than two decades ago. They drew customers like Coca-Cola Co. by mapping the challenging topography of their home country. They have since expanded internationally and won business from the likes of Apple and Amazon.

The mapmaker is profitable, unlike many of the high-profile startups that have gone public in the country recently. The startup reported a 31% profit margin for the last fiscal year, with revenue of 1.92 billion rupees ($25 million) and net profit of 594.3 million rupees. 

The company plans to expand after integrating maps for more than 200 countries into its software platform, Chief Executive Officer Rohan Verma said in an interview on Bloomberg television recently. That can help original-equipment makers for next generation mobility vehicles, application developers, and businesses looking for geospatial data analytics, he said. 

India earlier this year relaxed long-standing controls over mapping and other geographic data, providing a boost for companies such as MapmyIndia. Foreign mapping players in India are barred from using high-precision satellite imagery, collecting street-view data and conducting ground surveys to build up their maps, and are required to acquire such data from domestic providers.

“There is a huge headroom for growth in our sector and we are very, very excited about the market,” said Verma, son of the founding couple. “We are very hopeful that this entry into the public market will increase our profile.”

The company received bids for more than 100 times the amount of shares on offer, according to stock exchange data.

MapmyIndia’s customers also include Mercedes-Benz and McDonald’s Corp. The company has built three-dimensional and four-dimensional high definition maps which will be useful as automated driving becomes more widespread, Verma said. 

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