<p>Indian e-commerce startup Meesho has posted its first-ever profit and is targeting a stock market listing in the next 12-18 months, a senior company executive said in an interview.</p>.<p>Meesho competes with Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart in India's fast-growing e-commerce market, with its website becoming popular by targeting smaller towns and cities with unbranded products like clothes and cosmetics. It was last valued at nearly $7 billion, PitchBook data shows.</p>.<p>After posting losses since inception in 2015, Meesho, which is backed by Japan's SoftBank, recorded profits for the first time last month, it said in a statement.</p>.Meesho delists 52 lakh fake, restricted products in six months.<p>Its revenue between January-June was more than $400 million, and Meesho expects it to cross $800 million by the year end, Chief Financial officer Dhiresh Bansal told Reuters on Friday.</p>.<p>"Since we just turned from negative to positive, it's a small nominal kind of number, single digit of course... We intend to continue the profitability trajectory," he said without sharing specifics.</p>.<p>An initial public offering (IPO) is now being planned in the next 12-18 months, Bansal added.</p>.<p>"We feel that the growth, scale and profitability are there (for an IPO), but you also want to make sure that there is enough of a track record for market investors to look at."</p>.<p>Meesho, which was founded by Indian Institute of Technology graduates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, clocked more than 1 billion orders in the last 12 months.</p>.<p>Meesho's first profit comes at a time when Indian startups have been struggling to raise funds due to a funding squeeze worsened by higher interest rates and a global tech market rout. </p>.<p>Many Indian startups have fired thousands of employees and cut costs aggressively in recent months.</p>.<p>Last week, Indian food delivery giant Zomato also posted its first-ever profit. </p>
<p>Indian e-commerce startup Meesho has posted its first-ever profit and is targeting a stock market listing in the next 12-18 months, a senior company executive said in an interview.</p>.<p>Meesho competes with Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart in India's fast-growing e-commerce market, with its website becoming popular by targeting smaller towns and cities with unbranded products like clothes and cosmetics. It was last valued at nearly $7 billion, PitchBook data shows.</p>.<p>After posting losses since inception in 2015, Meesho, which is backed by Japan's SoftBank, recorded profits for the first time last month, it said in a statement.</p>.Meesho delists 52 lakh fake, restricted products in six months.<p>Its revenue between January-June was more than $400 million, and Meesho expects it to cross $800 million by the year end, Chief Financial officer Dhiresh Bansal told Reuters on Friday.</p>.<p>"Since we just turned from negative to positive, it's a small nominal kind of number, single digit of course... We intend to continue the profitability trajectory," he said without sharing specifics.</p>.<p>An initial public offering (IPO) is now being planned in the next 12-18 months, Bansal added.</p>.<p>"We feel that the growth, scale and profitability are there (for an IPO), but you also want to make sure that there is enough of a track record for market investors to look at."</p>.<p>Meesho, which was founded by Indian Institute of Technology graduates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, clocked more than 1 billion orders in the last 12 months.</p>.<p>Meesho's first profit comes at a time when Indian startups have been struggling to raise funds due to a funding squeeze worsened by higher interest rates and a global tech market rout. </p>.<p>Many Indian startups have fired thousands of employees and cut costs aggressively in recent months.</p>.<p>Last week, Indian food delivery giant Zomato also posted its first-ever profit. </p>