Zero to IPO: The MakeMyTrip Story
In April 2000, when most Indians had never booked anything online, a former banker named Deep Kalra wrote a business plan for a website that would sell flight tickets to Indians living in America. Ten years later, that website — MakeMyTrip — rang the bell on Nasdaq, and its shares jumped 89% on the first day of trading. This is the story of how India's first consumer-internet company survived the dot-com crash, 9/11, SARS and COVID-19 to become a $10-billion-bookings travel giant — and why it is now weighing a second listing, this time in India.
The Founding Moment: A Banker Bitten by the Travel Bug
Deep Kalra, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, quit his banking job in 1999, bitten — in his own telling — by two bugs at once: travel and the internet. In April 2000 he founded MakeMyTrip with funding from venture fund eVentures, and the site went live in October 2000. The founding team included Rajesh Magow, who would later become Group CEO, and Keyur Joshi.
The initial bet was deliberately narrow: serve the Indian diaspora in the United States booking trips back home. In 2000, India's own internet user base was tiny, credit-card penetration was negligible, and travel booking meant a visit to a neighbourhood agent. Targeting NRIs, who already had cards and connectivity, was the pragmatic way in.
Early Struggles: Crash, Terror and an Epidemic
MakeMyTrip was born into the worst possible weather for an internet startup. The dot-com bubble burst within months of its launch. Then came the 9/11 attacks in 2001, which froze global air travel, and the SARS epidemic of 2002–03, which hit Asian travel again. Kalra has recalled in interviews that the company survived those years on a shoestring, kept alive by the founding team's conviction that Indian travel would eventually move online.
The turning point came in 2005. Two things changed at once: SoftBank invested $10 million, and Indian Railways' e-ticketing arm IRCTC came on board as a partner, giving online travel mainstream legitimacy in India. MakeMyTrip launched its Indian operations in September 2005, offering online flight tickets to domestic travellers. From 2005 to 2009 it raised four rounds of institutional funding from investors including SAIF Partners, Tiger Global, Helion Venture Partners and Sierra Ventures.
The Road to the IPO: A Boardroom Nudge
By 2010 MakeMyTrip was India's largest online travel portal, but an IPO was not on the agenda — until a board meeting in January 2010. In a 2025 CNBC-TV18 interview marking the company's 25th year, Kalra recalled that InfoEdge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, an independent director on MakeMyTrip's board, told the founders: "Guys, you are ready to IPO." Six months later, they had.
MakeMyTrip chose Nasdaq over Indian exchanges, betting that US investors would better understand a consumer-internet story. Morgan Stanley was the sole book-running manager, with Oppenheimer and Pacific Crest as co-managers. The IPO was priced at $14 a share on 12 August 2010 — the top of the $12–14 band — valuing the company at about $478 million. Including the greenshoe option, the issue raised about $80.5 million.
Listing Day: The 89% Pop
The debut, on 13 August 2010, was spectacular. The stock closed at $26.45, up 88.9% from the $14 issue price — the hottest US IPO debut since 2007, according to contemporary press coverage — nearly doubling the company's value to about $903 million in a single session. Within a month, fuelled by comparisons with China's Ctrip, the stock touched $42.88.
Kalra later admitted the pricing had been conservative. In a 2021 Moneycontrol discussion with Bikhchandani, he said that given the chance, he would have raised the IPO price, since the stock ended its first day near $27. He also noted that close to 70% of the team held stock at the time of the listing.
The euphoria did not last uninterrupted. By November 2010, when the company guided to $58–61 million in revenue after service costs for fiscal 2011, the market began questioning a valuation that had briefly neared $1.5 billion. It was an early lesson in the gap between IPO-day excitement and quarterly-report reality — a pattern MakeMyTrip investors would see again.
After the IPO: Acquisitions and the Great Consolidation
Flush with IPO cash, MakeMyTrip went on an acquisition spree, buying Singapore-based Luxury Tours and Travels in 2011 and hotel aggregator HotelTravel.com for $25 million in 2013, and pushing into hotels and holiday packages to reduce its dependence on air ticketing, which contributed about 90% of revenue at the IPO.
The defining post-IPO move came in 2016. In January that year, China's Ctrip invested $180 million through convertible bonds. Then, in October 2016, MakeMyTrip announced an all-stock merger with rival ibibo Group — owner of Goibibo and redBus — in India's biggest online-travel consolidation. Naspers and Tencent, which owned ibibo, took a 40% stake in the combined company, and Ctrip's notes converted into roughly a 10% stake. The combined brands had processed 34.1 million transactions in FY2016, and the deal gave MakeMyTrip leadership across flights, hotels and bus ticketing in one stroke.
The COVID Crash and the Comeback
Then came the ultimate stress test. In 2020, COVID-19 grounded flights worldwide and travel bookings collapsed to near zero. Like every travel company, MakeMyTrip cut costs, renegotiated and waited. The recovery, when it came, was powered by India's domestic travel boom — revenge travel, spiritual tourism and a surge in hotel bookings.
The numbers tell the comeback story. For fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 March 2025), MakeMyTrip reported record gross bookings of $9.8 billion, up 25.9% in constant currency, revenue of $978 million, up 27.4%, and adjusted operating profit of $167.3 million, up 34.7% — all all-time highs. Profit for the year was $95.3 million. Trade-press reports of the FY26 results put annual gross bookings above $10 billion, at $10.4 billion.
Where MakeMyTrip Stands Today — and the India Listing Question
Today MakeMyTrip operates three consumer brands — MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus — and trades on Nasdaq under the ticker MMYT, with a market capitalisation of roughly $4 billion (share price around $45.50 at the 3 November 2026 close). Its scale is formidable: trade reports cite over 87 million lifetime customers and 549 million app downloads.
The next chapter may bring the company full circle. In a March 2026 filing with the US SEC, MakeMyTrip said it is evaluating a potential listing of its India business on Indian stock exchanges, and it has already merged redBus India into the MakeMyTrip India entity as groundwork. Sixteen years after choosing Nasdaq over Mumbai, the company that taught India to book travel online may finally list at home too.
MakeMyTrip Milestones Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| April 2000 | Deep Kalra founds MakeMyTrip, funded by eVentures |
| October 2000 | Website launches, targeting NRIs in the US travelling to India |
| 2001–2003 | Dot-com crash, 9/11 and SARS batter global travel; company survives on a shoestring |
| September 2005 | India operations launch with SoftBank's $10 million investment and IRCTC partnership |
| 2005–2009 | Four institutional funding rounds (SAIF, Tiger Global, Helion, Sierra) |
| January 2010 | Board nudge from Sanjeev Bikhchandani: "You are ready to IPO" |
| 12–13 August 2010 | Nasdaq IPO priced at $14; stock closes day one at $26.45 (+88.9%), ~$80.5 million raised |
| 2011–2013 | Acquisitions: Luxury Tours and Travels, HotelTravel.com ($25 million) |
| January 2016 | Ctrip invests $180 million via convertible bonds |
| October 2016 | All-stock merger with ibibo Group (Goibibo, redBus); Naspers–Tencent take 40% |
| 2020–2021 | COVID-19 grounds travel; bookings collapse, then recover on domestic demand |
| FY2025 | Record $9.8 billion gross bookings, $978 million revenue, $167.3 million adjusted operating profit |
| March 2026 | SEC filing: evaluating a listing of MakeMyTrip India on Indian exchanges |
Takeaways for Investors and Entrepreneurs
- Survive the winters: MakeMyTrip endured three existential shocks (dot-com crash, 9/11, SARS) before its market even existed at scale. Cash discipline in bad years bought the good ones.
- Start narrow, then expand: The NRI-first wedge gave MakeMyTrip paying customers and card payments years before India's domestic market was ready.
- IPO pricing is a trade-off: A conservative $14 price created a famous 89% pop — and left money on the table. Kalra himself later said he would have priced higher.
- Consolidation beats price wars: The 2016 ibibo merger ended a ruinous discounting battle and created a company spanning flights, hotels and buses.
- Listings are not endings: Sixteen years after Nasdaq, an India listing is on the table — the company's capital-market story is still being written.
FAQs
When was MakeMyTrip founded?
MakeMyTrip was founded in April 2000 by Deep Kalra, with Rajesh Magow and Keyur Joshi among the founding team. The website launched in October 2000.
When did MakeMyTrip IPO, and at what price?
MakeMyTrip listed on Nasdaq in August 2010. The IPO was priced at $14 per share, the top of the $12–14 band, and raised about $80.5 million including the greenshoe option.
How did MakeMyTrip perform on listing day?
The stock closed its first trading day at $26.45, up 88.9% from the issue price, valuing the company at roughly $903 million.
Who owns MakeMyTrip today?
MakeMyTrip is listed on Nasdaq (ticker: MMYT). Its brands are MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus, following the 2016 merger with ibibo Group.
Is MakeMyTrip planning an India IPO?
In March 2026 the company said in an SEC filing that it is evaluating a potential listing of its India business on Indian exchanges. No timeline or structure has been confirmed.
How big is MakeMyTrip now?
For FY2025 the company reported record gross bookings of $9.8 billion and revenue of $978 million; trade reports put FY26 gross bookings at $10.4 billion. Its Nasdaq market capitalisation is roughly $4 billion.
Conclusion
MakeMyTrip's journey from a 2000 NRI travel website to a Nasdaq-listed giant is the original Indian consumer-internet success story — written before "startup" was a household word. It survived every shock its industry could throw at it, turned a boardroom suggestion into a blockbuster IPO in six months, consolidated its market through the ibibo merger, and came back from COVID stronger than before. If the India listing goes ahead, the company that first taught Indians to book a flight online will have completed a remarkable round trip: from India, to Nasdaq, and back home.
Read more from the Zero to IPO series: Zero to IPO: The IRCTC Story, Zero to IPO: The Zomato Story, Zero to IPO: The Delhivery Story, Zero to IPO: The Hyundai Motor India Story.
Sources: Business Standard (August 2010 IPO pricing), Financial Express (listing-day report), Moneycontrol (2021 Kalra–Bikhchandani IPO discussion), CNBC-TV18 (25-year founders' interview, 2025), VCCircle and Business Standard (ibibo merger, October 2016), MakeMyTrip FY25 earnings press release (May 2025), Skift (March 2026 India-listing filing). Market capitalisation and share price are approximate, based on the 3 November 2026 Nasdaq close. This article is for information only, not investment advice.