What people usually mean
Most Indian unlisted-share buyers use these three terms interchangeably. They are not the same thing and the difference affects your return.
Pre-IPO
The company has filed a DRHP/RHP with SEBI or is widely expected to file within 12–18 months. You're typically buying from:
- Early employees who are legally allowed to liquidate a portion pre-issue.
- Investors from an earlier round (e.g. Series D/E VCs) trimming positions.
- Founder-allocated sale pools.
Price behavior: Grey-market prices rise as the DRHP/RHP news solidifies. Lock-ins (30/90/180-day, per SEBI) apply after listing.
ESOP buyback
An employee exercising their options and selling the resulting shares on the secondary market. The counterparty is a single individual — often with a tight price floor (their strike + tax).
Price behavior: Tends to be the *cheapest* tier because the seller is motivated by the tax bill or a lifestyle event, not market timing. But lot sizes are small and availability is inconsistent.
Secondary
Generic term for any trade after primary issue, before public listing. Includes all of the above *plus* trades between two existing external shareholders (VCs selling to family offices, etc.).
The share page on Polemarch will call out which bucket each listing belongs to — we track the original seller type so you can price appropriately.
Which should you buy?
- Chase pre-IPO when you believe a listing is imminent and the spread is tight.
- Chase ESOPs when you want the cheapest entry and can wait.
- Secondary from a VC signals institutional price discovery — good for valuation anchoring but rarely the cheapest.
Polemarch lists all three types side-by-side. Use the Bucket filter in the mega menu to jump to whichever tier fits your strategy.