SEBI Sets Up Working Group to Overhaul Innovators Growth Platform for Deep-Tech and Pre-Revenue Startups — November 4, 2026
In a bid to enhance capital market access for emerging technology enterprises, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a specialized working group to review the regulatory framework governing the Innovators Growth Platform (IGP).
The regulatory rethink comes against the backdrop of rapid expansion in India's frontier technology ecosystem, particularly across deep-tech, biotechnology, semiconductors, and space exploration. Unlike traditional commercial enterprises or consumer internet startups, these sectors rely heavily on proprietary intellectual property, carry prolonged research and development cycles, and often operate without revenue generation for several years during product validation.
Addressing Long Gestation and IP-Led Models
Under current public market frameworks, listing requirements largely presuppose established commercial operations and conventional financial track records. While SEBI had previously reworked the IGP under the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) Regulations, 2018, the platform has historically seen muted participation from domestic issuers. Most late-stage tech startups in India have either waited to list directly on the mainboard or depended entirely on private venture capital and private equity pools.
The newly formed working group will examine the operational and regulatory bottlenecks that have hindered traction on the IGP. It will evaluate how market rules can be tailored to accommodate companies whose core enterprise value lies in scientific innovation and intellectual property rather than near-term profitability or operational cash flows.
Key Focus Areas for the Working Group:
- Listing and Eligibility Criteria: Assessing the suitability of current qualification thresholds for early-stage, research-intensive, and pre-revenue companies.
- Pricing and Valuation Mechanisms: Reviewing price discovery processes for companies that lack standard valuation benchmarks like price-to-earnings or EBITDA multiples.
- Investor Participation: Examining norms for accredited investors, institutional buyers, and high-net-worth participants capable of evaluating technological risks.
- Disclosure Frameworks: Formulating disclosure norms that provide transparency around technical milestones, research pipelines, and patent portfolios without forcing firms to disclose proprietary trade secrets.
- Migration Pathways: Refining the guidelines that allow companies listed on the IGP to eventually transition to the main exchange boards once they achieve scale.
Significance for the Indian Startup Ecosystem
India has emerged as one of the world's largest startup hubs, but domestic funding for capital-intensive, hardware-oriented, and deep-tech ventures remains a key challenge. Long gestation periods have historically pushed several high-tech founders to incorporate overseas or seek cross-border private capital.
A functional, liquid public listing venue dedicated to innovation-led enterprises would offer domestic institutional investors and family offices structured entry and exit opportunities. By revisiting the IGP framework, the capital markets regulator is positioning domestic bourses to support national strategic priorities in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, space commerce, and biopharmaceuticals.
