Investment bankers used to sell a pretty simple promise, as one investment banker from HDFC Bank put it: “We will get your IPO subscribed.” Now, he said, the pitch is more elaborate: “We will get you priced right, told right, and traded well.”

No one knows this better than mid-sized investment banks like Dam Capital and Equirus Capital, who’ve ridden this new mandate from the fringes to the big leagues.

Because the game itself has changed. In the last five years, India’s IPO market has gone from a promising frontier to an unignorable engine of global issuance. One in every five IPOs now takes place in India, with 62 companies raisingEY ReportIndia ranks among top IPO markets with US$ 2.8 billion raised in Q1 2025 $2.8 billion in the June quarter alone.

That kind of volume flips the balance of power. “With 85 IPOs live and at least 85 more in the pipeline, it’s a buyer’s market,” said a senior executive at Dam. “So, companies have to be reasonable on valuation expectations as investors are spoilt for choice.”

The buyers have shifted, too. Domestic mutual funds have overtaken foreign institutional investors to bankroll 75% of IPOs in 2025, compared to just 25% three years ago. All while a deep roster of private-equity and venture capital-backed companies is hitting the market, each trying to squeeze as much value as possible.

History suggests they have a reason to be wary. Barely a third of the 25 PE and VC-backed new-age companies listed between May 2020 and June 2025 have outperformedBusiness StandardLess than one-third of new-age Indian IPOs beat market benchmarks the market, many dragged down by overvaluation and capital-heavy models.

And so, a reckoning—for issuers, yes, but especially for the banks that priced those promises.

They can no longer stick to just making introductions and hope the market sorts itself out. Instead, their new pitch is all about helping companies sidestep over-valuation, while crafting unique narratives that help them cut through a crowded market. With a sprinkle of personalised guidance, sector expertise, and post-listing support.

Mid-sized challengers have been quick on the uptake. Take Dam, which has run 32 IPOs and around 25 QIPs over the last five years—including not only mid-sized deals but also big-ticket ones where it was up against top banks.