Market flush with IPO but small firms struggled to raise capital in 2020

Number of SME issues dropped from 51 in 2019 to 27; amount raised by small companies fell 74.5% to Rs 159.1 crore

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggled to raise money from the stock market this year as larger ones gained from an influx of liquidity.

The SME segment raised Rs 159.1 crore in 2020, shows data from primary market tracker Prime Database. This translates into a 0.63 per cent share of the total money raised through initial public offers, according to data till November.  This is the first time that that the SME’s share of IPO funds has dropped below one per cent since a separate segment for such companies began in 2012. The previous low was in the year of