In a move that could signal rising confidence ahead of an IPO, Table Space president and co-CEO Kunal Mehra has raised $23.3 million (2 billion rupees) via private credit to buy a stake in the company from an early angel investor. The deal, structured with support from Avendus Group—its largest lender—and InCred Alternative Investments, adds to a growing list of Indian startup founders using private debt to boost ownership before going public. Table Space, founded in 2017 and backed by Hillhouse Investment, manages over 10 million square feet of office space across India for clients like Apple, Microsoft, and Bank of America.
The terms? A three-year loan with a put option at the end of year two, yielding somewhere between 15% and 17% depending on the company's listing valuation, according to people familiar with the deal. That's in line with structures seen in similar founder buyback efforts—Zepto being one of the more recent examples. This kind of yield profile could attract opportunistic credit investors looking for high-return bets in India's late-stage startup universe. While Table Space's spokesperson didn't comment directly on Mehra's transaction, Hillhouse remains the largest shareholder with a 41% stake, and any public-facing financials will come through formal disclosure channels.
The strategy here isn't just about recapturing equity—it's about control and belief in long-term upside. As more private credit funds compete to finance pre-IPO founders, India's startup ecosystem is evolving into a more sophisticated, capital-stack-aware market. For Table Space, this could be the start of something bigger: a strong IPO setup with a founder doubling down when it matters most.
