Navi eyes Rs 3,000-crore IPO; inside IT CEOs’ pay

Sachin Bansal’s Navi Technologies is preparing to file for a Rs 3,000 crore IPO. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Meta’s woes in India increase
■ Rapid fashion startup Klydo shuts
■ KYC rules impact NRI investments

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Sachin Bansal's Navi Technologies is gearing up to file for an initial public offering (IPO) soon, four years after withdrawing its proposed offering, sources told us.

Details:

• The public issue is expected to launch in the March quarter of 2026-27 to raise Rs 3,000 crore.
• The issue is likely to include both fresh capital and an offer-for-sale.
• The Bengaluru-based company is working with Kotak Investment Banking for the IPO.

Funding first: Navi is raising its first external equity round, led by Dutch technology investor Prosus, to value the fintech before it hits the bourses.

“The valuation is being discussed, and there’s some pushback from Prosus. The investor is willing to invest at a valuation of around Rs 13,000 crore, but the final size and valuation of the round are yet to be closed,” a source said on condition of anonymity.

ET had reported in June about Navi’s fundraise talks.

Second attempt: Navi initially filed for a public offering four years ago, seeking to raise Rs 3,350 crore. The company received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in September 2022 for the issue, but paused the plan amid market volatility and a sharp decline in technology stocks.

Navi's pivot: Since its earlier IPO attempt, Navi has aimed to position itself as a broader financial services platform rather than mainly a lending business. Navi’s India lending operations gained momentum since regulatory sanctions in 2024, with monthly disbursals of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore, and it is looking to expand into Southeast Asia.

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Four of the top six Indian IT companies widened the gap between CEO compensation and the median employee remuneration in fiscal year 2026, compared to a year earlier.

What’s the news: Annual report disclosures of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and LTM showed the ratio of CEO pay to median employee remuneration increased over the previous year. The ratio, however, narrowed at Wipro due to a decrease in CEO Srinivas Pallia's pay.

For instance:

• At TCS, CEO pay was 332.8 times the median employee's remuneration, up from about 329.6 times in FY25.
• Infosys reported a ratio of 742 times, compared with 725 times a year earlier.
• The sharpest increase was at Tech Mahindra, where the ratio rose to 1,085.27 times from 840 times in FY25.
• Wipro was the sole exception, with the ratio declining to 523 times from 548.22 times in FY25 following a reduction in CEO pay.

Yes, and: Median employee remuneration (MER) showed a weaker trend. While TCS and Infosys posted increases of 5.1% and 4%, respectively, Wipro, LTM, and Tech Mahindra reported declines of 1.2% to 4.8%.

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg

After the summons orders were issued two days ago, the Centre has issued an official notice to Meta regarding child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, sources said.

Driving the news: The government has asked Meta to explain how paid Instagram ads promoting CSEAM were permitted on the platform, and has ordered immediate action.

Instagram has been instructed to turn off all ads and content facilitating access to such material. The company must submit a detailed response within seven days.

Triggers and concerns: This follows reports that Instagram hosted paid ads with explicit keywords linking users to channels where such content could be accessed or purchased. Authorities are investigating how these ads bypassed Meta’s review and moderation systems.

Publishing or transmitting child sexual abuse material is a criminal offence under Section 67B of the IT Act.

Meta’s response: Meta stated it has a zero-tolerance policy toward CSAM. The company reported that upon being alerted, it disabled the offending ads, suspended the violating accounts, and blocked the related URLs.

Broader context: Meta and the Indian authorities have been at odds for a few weeks now, with its messaging platform WhatsApp also summoned for its newly announced username feature.

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Rapid fashion delivery startup Klydo shut down after ending its brand partnerships just a year into its launch.

What happened: As per a note on its app on Sunday morning, the company stopped accepting new orders but will remain operational for seven days for order history or customer support.

By evening, the note was updated to say: “Klydo is pivoting in a new direction based on everything we've learned so far. While we've paused our current consumer offering, we're now focused on building the next chapter of the company around a sharper product vision.''

About the startup: Founded in September 2025 by former Udaan senior executives Pradeep Yadav and Ankit Agarwal, Klydo delivered clothing, accessories, footwear, and home and gifting products within 15 to 30 minutes in Bengaluru.

It started as a fashion marketplace app for Gen Z customers last year and eventually launched a quick-commerce arm.

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KYC rules hit NRI equity investments: Amid policy debates over foreign deposits in Indian banks, investments by non-resident Indians (NRIs) in Indian stock markets have slowed, data from the central depositories showed

Nykaa on Q1 numbers: FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa, expects its consolidated net revenue to grow by nearly 30% in the June quarter from a year earlier, supported by stronger performance in its fashion segment and steady momentum in beauty.

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■ Walmart’s Amazon-sized ads opportunity (The Information)

■ It is investors vs gamers as Sony ditches discs (FT)

■ America’s immigrant tech workers are paying an uncertainty tax (Rest of World)