India’s IPO market is booming, with FY26 seeing ₹1.65 Lakh Cr raised in mainboard IPOs. However, traditional investment banking models are becoming bottlenecks for mid-market companies. S45, founded in early 2025 by Deepank Bhandari, Pankaj Harlalka, and Aman Singh, aims to disrupt this by offering an “AI-native investment bank for India.”
S45 uses AI to automate manual workflows, expanding access to growth capital and accelerating IPO journeys. The company raised a $5 Mn seed round from RTP Global last year.
S45’s AI-driven approach compresses the effort required to screen companies and prepare offer documents. For instance, assessing a company’s suitability for an IPO takes 90 minutes, compared to the traditional 10 days. Similarly, the capital structure section of a DRHP can be completed in a day, versus weeks.
S45 targets mainboard and SME IPOs in the ₹50-500 Cr range, offering up to a 30% discount compared to traditional investment banks. The company has facilitated 26 SME IPOs worth ₹40-70 Cr each, totaling over ₹1,120 Cr raised. They also advise on private capital placement transactions.
S45 plans to expand its tech team and internal systems to further streamline execution and scale up. The company projects revenue of around $10 Mn for FY26-27.
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