When backend goes big board: Amagi files for IPO

After a sluggish start to the year marked by equity volatility and global tensions, India’s primary market is back in action. Fourteen IPOs are set to open for subscription next week alone, and with over $2.4 billion in expected July proceeds, market watchers are predicting a bullish turn for public offerings.

For India’s capital markets—and for marketing, media and adtech professionals tracking the intersection of tech and consumer engagement—this resurgence carries more than financial promise. It signals the mainstreaming of digital-first, cloud-native, and AI-powered platforms into the investment narrative. And leading this charge is a company the creative industries know well: Amagi Media Labs Limited.

The Bengaluru-headquartered SaaS unicorn has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI, outlining plans to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO). The proposed IPO includes a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to INR 1,020 crore and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to 3.41 crore shares by selling shareholders including Accel, Norwest Venture Partners, Premji Invest, Avataar Ventures, and others.

While IPO watchers will eye the listing for valuation cues, Amagi’s filing signals something more significant for marketers, media professionals, adtech innovators, and brand strategists: a blueprint for how cloud-native platforms can go from infrastructure partners to investment-grade businesses.

A SaaS play for streaming-led media

Founded in 2008 by Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Arunachalam Srinivasan Karapattu, Amagi connects media companies to audiences via cloud-based tools that manage video delivery, dynamic ad insertion, and monetisation across platforms like smart TVs, OTTs, and mobile apps. With a client list that includes more than 45% of the world’s top 50 media and entertainment companies by revenue, its relevance to marketers and content owners is significant—and expanding.

According to its DRHP, Amagi will channel INR 667 crore of the INR 1,020 crore raised through the IPO towards investments in technology and cloud infrastructure, while the remainder will fund inorganic growth through acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

For agencies and brands that rely on real-time content deployment, audience targeting, and seamless distribution across FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) and OTT, Amagi’s infrastructure forms a crucial backbone. The platform is organised across three verticals—cloud modernisation, streaming unification, monetisation and marketplace.

These offerings serve three key customer segments—content providers (TV networks, studios, sports leagues), distributors (OTT players, telcos, smart TV makers), and advertising platforms and brands (DSPs, agencies, tech intermediaries). It’s an end-to-end setup that’s increasingly vital in today’s fragmented video landscape.

Financial snapshot: Growth amid losses

From FY23 to FY25, Amagi has reported a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.7%, reaching operational revenue of INR 1,162 crore in FY25. Much of this growth stems from new customer onboarding and increased usage among existing clients—especially in FAST and OTT formats, which continue to gain traction globally.

However, Amagi is still in the red, reporting a net loss of INR 68 crore for FY25, although that’s significantly lower than the INR 245 crore and INR 321 crore losses in FY24 and FY23, respectively. As per the DRHP, “the losses are primarily due to the company's focus on the growth and expansion of its business and the associated expenses therewith, such as our employee benefits expense and communication costs.”

Indeed, employee costs are central to its growth engine, with INR 694 crore spent in FY25, accounting for nearly 59% of total revenue. That high ratio is typical for product-heavy SaaS firms, particularly those building proprietary platforms like Amagi’s AI-enabled video infrastructure.

Still, profitability appears to be inching closer. Its adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 2.02% in FY25, from a negative (17.69%) in FY24 and (20.62%) in FY23—a signal that operational efficiencies are kicking in, even as investments continue.

Investor confidence in SaaS and streaming

The investor roster in Amagi’s OFS reads like a who’s-who of global venture capital: PI Opportunities Fund I & II, Norwest Venture Partners, Accel India, Trudy Holdings, and AVP I Fund, among others. The company has also indicated it may pursue a pre-IPO placement of INR 204 crore, which would reduce the size of the fresh issue accordingly.

This confidence isn’t unfounded. According to EY’s Global IPO Trends – H1 2025, “India saw a 30% drop in IPO volume YOY, with proceeds holding steady. The market had a slow start to 2025 due to ongoing equity volatility, driven by global and domestic factors. Despite its high P/E ratio, which is similar to US levels, signs of recovery are emerging, supported by a healthy IPO pipeline, favourable economic indicators, government backing and rising retail investor participation.”

Amagi, then, is not just riding this recovery—it’s emblematic of where the market is headed. SaaS businesses with strong IP, recurring revenue models, and embedded infrastructure play increasingly well on Indian bourses, especially when they align with the growth of sectors like streaming and digital advertising.

Risks, dependencies, and regional skew

Amagi’s DRHP also outlines key risks, notably revenue concentration. Its largest, five largest, and ten largest customers contributed to 11.41%, 23.65%, and 33.74% of FY25 revenue, respectively. That means INR 274 crore of revenue came from its top five clients and INR 393 crore from the top ten—highlighting a dependency that could pose challenges in case of client churn.

Geographically, Amagi’s business is still heavily weighted towards international markets. The Americas and Europe (including the UK) accounted for a combined INR 1,048 crore, or over 90% of total FY25 revenue. For Indian marketers, this may read as a missed opportunity—but also an invitation. As local broadcasters, OTTs, and advertisers mature, platforms like Amagi could find renewed demand on home turf.

So why should professionals in advertising, media, and brand marketing care about Amagi’s IPO?

For starters, Amagi represents the convergence of media infrastructure and advertising technology. Its monetisation tools, data-driven ad insertion, and playout infrastructure support the complex needs of global media distribution—exactly the kind of environment agencies are increasingly operating in.

Second, the IPO will likely push Amagi into higher public visibility, bringing investor scrutiny, growth pressures, and product expansion. For clients and collaborators, this could mean faster innovation cycles, deeper integration opportunities, and new acquisition-led capabilities.

Finally, Amagi’s story is a case study in how Indian SaaS firms with verticalised focus—especially in media and entertainment—can move from backend partners to publicly listed powerhouses. For the thousands of ad agencies and marketing professionals who rely on cloud platforms to distribute, measure, and monetise content, this isn't just a financial event—it’s a signal of how infrastructure itself is becoming strategic IP.

As the IPO season heats up, Amagi is one name to track—not just on the NSE and BSE ticker, but in every boardroom where content meets cloud.