ESDS Soars 92% To Lead New-Age Tech Stocks This Week, MDR Hopes Lift Fintechs

New-age tech stocks delivered a mixed performance this week as weakness in the broader equity market kept investor sentiment cautious.

Of the 63 listed new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage till last week, 33 declined between 0.01% and nearly 14% this week. Thirty stocks ended in the green.

Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop parent Purple Style Labs became the 64th new-age tech company under Inc42’s coverage after making its stock market debut on Monday (September 7). The stock listed at a discount of about 6% on the BSE but recovered during the week to close at ₹570.15, around 0.8% below its IPO price of ₹575

Following the addition of Purple Style Labs, the combined market capitalisation of the 64 new-age tech companies under Inc42’s coverage stood at $171.6 Bn at the end of the week. The 63 companies covered by Inc42 at the end of the previous week had a combined market capitalisation of $170.5 Bn.

NSE SME-listed Yudiz Solutions led the losers for the second consecutive week, falling 13.91% to ₹22.60. It was followed by recently listed logistics company LEAP India, which declined 9.23% to ₹144.55. 

LEAP India touched a fresh intraday low of ₹136 yesterday. FirstCry, Capillary Technologies, EaseMyTrip, and IndiaMART InterMESH also fell to new lows during the week.

On the other hand, Lenskart, Paytm, and Nykaa touched fresh highs, while Swiggy, Honasa Consumer, and Groww were among the other stocks that registered healthy gains this week.

ESDS Software emerged as the biggest gainer, surging 91.65% during its first full week of trading to close at ₹1,716.35 on the BSE.  

Now, let’s take a look at some of the other major developments involving listed new-age tech companies this week.

RentoMojo To List Next: Furniture and appliance rental startup RentoMojo’s IPO closed with a subscription of 72.88X, receiving bids for 158.68 Cr shares against 2.18 Cr shares on offer. Its shares are tentatively scheduled to list on the bourses on Thursday (September 17). 

Shiprocket Cuts Loss: The logistics company’s consolidated net loss narrowed 24% YoY and 16% QoQ to ₹13.7 Cr in Q1 FY27. Its operating revenue jumped 34% YoY and 7% QoQ to ₹592.1 Cr. Shiprocket shares gained 1.99% during the week to close at ₹134.05.

Cofounder Pledges EaseMyTrip Shares: Cofounder and chairman Nishant Pitti pledged 34.51 Cr EaseMyTrip shares, worth around ₹211.9 Cr, to Motilal Oswal Financial Services for “personal use”. The latest pledge represents 8.66% of the online travel aggregator’s total share capital. Pitti’s total encumbered holding now stands at 44.87 Cr shares, equivalent to 11.26% of the company’s share capital.

Swiggy-Udaan Deal: Swiggy will sell retail distribution platform LYNK to Udaan through a share-swap transaction valued at around ₹500 Cr. In return, Swiggy will receive a roughly 2.8% stake in Udaan and invest another ₹75 Cr for an additional 0.4%, taking its total holding in the B2B ecommerce unicorn to about 3.2%.

Veefin Eyes Mainboard Migration: BSE SME-listed fintech SaaS company Veefin Solutions submitted an information memorandum to the BSE to migrate to its mainboard. It also plans to apply for direct listing on the NSE after receiving the requisite approval from the BSE.

Meesho Scraps CPO Role: Ecommerce major Meesho discontinued the position of chief product officer as part of a restructuring of its product leadership team. Consequently, incumbent CPO Prasanna Arunachalam ceased to be part of the company’s senior management personnel. 

Go Digit Director Resigns: Go Digit independent director Giridhar Aramane resigned following an increase in his responsibilities after being appointed chairman and managing director of Unitech Ltd.

BlackBuck Sets Up Subsidiary: BlackBuck’s board approved the incorporation of wholly owned subsidiary BlackBuck Transport Services Pvt Ltd to provide trucking and logistics services. The subsidiary may own or lease commercial vehicles, develop platforms for transport-asset transactions, and provide fleet management, warehousing, and related services. 

Against this backdrop, here is a look at the broader market performance during the week. 

Markets Fall For Fifth Week

India’s benchmark indices ended lower for the fifth consecutive week amid elevated crude oil prices, rising global bond yields, and concerns over US inflation.

The Sensex declined 2.27% during the week to close at 74,781.76, while the Nifty 50 fell 2.09% to 23,398.10. The midcap and smallcap indices also declined 1.40% and 0.88%, respectively.

Crude oil added to market pressure, with Brent briefly crossing $110 per barrel yesterday before ending the week at $104.61, up 8.7%, amid the escalating US-Iran conflict and disruptions along key Middle Eastern shipping routes. Persistently high oil prices could add to India’s imported inflation, widen the current account deficit, increase costs for companies, and put further pressure on the rupee.

Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield moved closer to 5%. A sustained increase in US bond yields could strengthen the dollar and accelerate foreign portfolio investor outflows from emerging markets such as India.

Foreign portfolio investors pulled out around ₹7,443 Cr from Indian equities in the first week of September after turning net buyers in July and August.

The ongoing correction follows a mixed performance in August. While the Nifty 50 declined 1.24% during the month, the Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 gained 1.72% and 2.52%, respectively. The Nifty Microcap 250 rose 5.41%. 

Despite the near-term volatility, brokerages remain constructive on India’s longer-term prospects. Morgan Stanley expects the Sensex to reach 89,000 by June 2027, provided crude oil prices moderate. Jefferies sees opportunities emerging from India’s next industrial cycle across manufacturing, semiconductors, electronics, space, and data-centre infrastructure.

Investors will now track the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision, domestic inflation data, crude oil prices, and developments in the US-Iran conflict for further cues.

Now, let’s take a look at the performance of the week’s biggest gainer and the fintech group.

ESDS Extends Blockbuster Run

ESDS Software emerged as the standout performer among recently listed new-age tech companies, with its stock nearly doubling during its first full week of trading despite weakness in the broader market. The enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure company made its market debut on September 4. Its shares closed their debut session at ₹895.50 on the BSE, more than double the IPO price of ₹429.

The rally continued throughout the week, with the stock touching its upper circuit in every session.

Its circuit limit was subsequently narrowed from 20% to 10%.

ESDS shares ended at ₹1,716.35 on the BSE yesterday, up 91.65% from their debut-day closing price. The stock is now 300.1% above its IPO price. 

The company’s market capitalisation stood at around ₹20,118 Cr (about $2.11 Bn) at the end of the week, compared with an IPO valuation of about ₹5,028 Cr. 

The rally highlighted strong investor appetite for listed AI infrastructure plays. ESDS’ ₹720 Cr IPO was subscribed 135.88X, with the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) booked 261.51X.

Optimism from the Street provided another trigger. Choice Institutional Equities initiated coverage on ESDS with a ‘Buy’ rating and a price target of ₹1,550, citing its AI infrastructure opportunity and $1.25 Bn contract with Sharon AI.

ESDS crossed Choice’s target price within five trading sessions. 

Fintech Stocks Ride MDR Hopes

Shares of listed fintech companies rallied during the week of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026, with the possibility of MDR being introduced on certain UPI transactions providing investors with a potential earnings trigger.

Pine Labs was among the biggest beneficiaries, gaining 14.17% during the week to close at ₹202.35.

The stock surged 16.9% during yesterday’s session alone, while Paytm, MobiKwik, and AvenuesAI also posted sharp gains. 

The rally followed a report that an MDR of around 40 basis points could be introduced on UPI transactions involving larger merchants or higher transaction values.

UPI currently operates under a zero-MDR regime, limiting the direct revenue that banks and payment companies earn from such transactions and leaving them dependent on adjacent services and government incentives.

Introducing MDR, even on a limited set of transactions, could therefore create a direct revenue stream for banks, acquiring entities, and third-party application providers.

Brokerage Bernstein named Paytm its top fintech pick, citing the possible introduction of MDR, growth in merchant lending, and improving operating leverage as potential earnings drivers.

The developments coincided with GFF 2026, where UPI and the next phase of India’s digital payments ecosystem took centre stage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for expanding UPI’s international footprint and linking it with more global payment systems, while NPCI unveiled initiatives spanning ticketing, contactless payments, and international RuPay credit card payments through UPI.

Edited by Vinaykumar Rai
Creatives by Varshita Srivastava