Public listing lets founders keep 75% control while raising capital

The caution came alongside the reassurance. 'Your business is in your operations, not in the share price,' Chauhan said. He advised founders to focus on profit growth rather than short-term price moves. A sustained increase in earnings will eventually show up in the share price, he argued.

The NSE's SME platform, launched in 2012, already shows the model working. Companies listed on it have raised more than ₹21,700 crore and hold a combined market capitalisation of over ₹2 lakh crore, Chauhan said. The platform gives small and medium enterprises a path to public markets without the full compliance burden of a main-board listing.

JIIF Chairman Jeenendra Bhandari said the foundation completed four incubation cohorts and facilitated over ₹60 crore in startup investments. Bhandari noted that the foundation secured a ₹5 crore grant from the MSInS program and a ₹2 crore grant from SISFS to support innovation.

The NSE itself filed its draft prospectus for a public offering days before Chauhan's speech, putting its own listing on the table. For founders considering the same path, Chauhan's message was simple: plan for scale. 'If you are doing a business of ₹10 crore or ₹20 crore, you should be planning for ₹200 crore and beyond,' he said.