Indian mutual funds have boosted their investments in five new-age companies. Funds poured into stocks like Urban Company, Ather Energy, Lenskart, Meesho, and PhysicsWallah. This shows growing confidence from domestic investors in these tech-focused businesses. Brokerages are also initiating coverage with positive outlooks. This trend indicates a significant shift in institutional capital towards India's new-age economy.

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Synopsis

Indian mutual funds have boosted their investments in five new-age companies. Funds poured into stocks like Urban Company, Ather Energy, Lenskart, Meesho, and PhysicsWallah. This shows growing confidence from domestic investors in these tech-focused businesses. Brokerages are also initiating coverage with positive outlooks. This trend indicates a significant shift in institutional capital towards India's new-age economy.

In a decisive show of conviction, domestic fund managers sharply increased their holdings across a clutch of newly listed new-age companies in the March quarter, pouring crores of rupees into stocks that, not long ago, were greeted with skepticism about valuations, profitability timelines, and business models. The latest shareholding pattern reveals mutual funds raised stakes in 5 new-age companies that got listed in 2025 after achieving unicorn status.

Mutual funds (MFs) were net buyers across the board in Q4, with Urban Company emerging as a primary target. Domestic fund managers purchased approximately Rs 900 crore worth of shares in March alone, buying 74 million shares to now own a combined 130 million shares in the home services platform.

As a result, aggregate MF holding surged from 3.84% in the December quarter to 8.98% by the end of March, more than doubling in a single quarter.

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SBI Mutual Fund and Mirae Asset led the charge. SBI MF alone now owns 6.72% of Urban Company, making it one of the most concentrated institutional bets on the platform economy in India today.

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Ather Energy, the electric two-wheeler maker, saw mutual fund holdings rise from 18% to 20.5%.

Domestic brokerage firm Emkay Global frames the Ather opportunity in dramatic terms, drawing a direct parallel to Tesla's trajectory. The brokerage believes "Ather's stock price could see a similar inflection" as it did with Tesla, which rose more than 10x in CY20 after turning EBIT and free cash flow positive.

Emkay expects Ather to turn EBIT/PAT positive in H2FY27 and FCF positive by Q1FY28. It also sees the Indian electric two-wheeler industry at "an inflection point," projecting a strong 20% CAGR over FY26–28.

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Lenskart attracted a wave of new entrants as Quant MF, Tata MF, Motilal Oswal, and UTI all initiated positions in the March quarter, lifting aggregate MF holding from 5.6% to 6.4%.

Jefferies, which covers the eyewear retailer, calls it India's largest tech-driven eyewear company with only around 5% market share. The brokerage expects Lenskart to deliver 50%-plus EBITDA CAGR over FY25–28, underpinned by its vertically integrated omni-channel model and fast store payback periods.

Meesho saw SBI MF and Nippon India MF enter as new investors, nudging overall MF holding from 4.6% to 4.9%. Axis Capital, in a recent initiation, calls Meesho "India's largest e-commerce player" and argues it is well-placed to ride e-commerce growth through rising tier 2-plus penetration.

The brokerage estimates Meesho's marketplace net merchandise value will grow at a 29% CAGR from FY26–30, with revenues at 25% CAGR and an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 3% by FY30. Axis Capital initiates with a Buy and a target price of Rs 195.

PhysicsWallah saw mutual funds, led by SBI MF and Mirae, purchase 24 million shares in the quarter, lifting MF holding from 4.8% to 5.6%. JM Financial initiates coverage with a Buy and a sum-of-the-parts target price of Rs 110, projecting 28% revenue CAGR over FY25-28 and EBITDA margin expansion to approximately 13% by FY28 from just 3.2% in FY25.

The brokerage assigns a 70x FY28 price-to-earnings multiple, steep by any global edtech standard, but argues that PhysicsWallah “warrants this premium as it is in early stages of the monetisation curve.”

The pattern of accelerating MF accumulation, fresh brokerage initiations, and bullish long-term earnings projections across these five stocks points to a structural shift in how domestic institutional capital is engaging with India's new-age economy.

With brokerages publishing detailed earnings models, assigning buy ratings, and fund houses making concentrated, quarter-on-quarter additions, the Indian internet and consumer tech sector is being underwritten by the domestic establishment in a way that was simply not the case two years ago.

However, the path to glory isn’t risk-free either. Meesho faces competitive intensity; Ather must navigate the expiry of PM E-drive subsidies; PhysicsWallah and Lenskart carry a valuation premium that demands flawless execution; and the Gulf conflict adds a macro overhang that no sector is immune to.

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