How MapmyIndia survived and thrived

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Editor's note: The latest tech company to head for an initial public offering this year was a bit of an unexpected one. Gurugram-based MapMyIndia—a quarter-century-old firm that has quietly built a mapping and geospatial data business—last week filed its draft red herring prospectus with the markets regulator.  The top-line figures at Rs 152 crore in revenue from operations for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2021 don't strike as particularly impressive and are largely the same as the previous year's (the pandemic is largely to blame). The net profit of Rs 59.4 crore, however, stands out, more than double the Rs 23.2 crore in 2019-20, even though much of that improvement comes from a reduction in employee costs and the sale of mutual fund units. The company hasn't revealed the size of the IPO yet, though news reports have pegged it at upwards of Rs 1,000 crore, with a valuation of over Rs 5,000 crore. The IPO is entirely an offer for sale, where the founders and existing investors sell part of their stakes in the company. Like CarTrade, the online used-car …