Sell your pre-IPO shares before the listing.
Holding shares in a company headed for the markets? Polemarch buys directly through the Polemarch Guarantee or works its buyer network to find you the best price — documented, compliant, settled to your bank.
- CDSL / NSDL · PAN + Aadhaar KYC
- No pool accounts · direct to your demat
- Full refund if we can't source your order
Get a callback from our team
Share your details and we'll reach out with current prices and next steps.
Two ways to exit
Take a guaranteed purchase offer from Polemarch for speed, or let us shop your block to institutional dealers and HNIs for price.
No listing-day lottery
Lock-ins, listing delays and price bands make IPO exits uncertain. A secondary sale converts your holding on your timeline.
Verified buyers only
Every counterparty is KYC-verified. You never negotiate with strangers or share documents outside the platform.
Deal desk on your side
A named relationship manager runs your sale — valuation, negotiation, documentation, transfer, payout.
Clean settlement
Off-market transfer via CDSL/NSDL with funds settled to your bank within T+2 working days of verification.
Track everything
Every stage — valuation, offer, transfer, payment — is visible in your dashboard with email updates.
How it works
Tell us what you hold
Open the sell wizard in your dashboard: company, quantity and your expected price. Choose a guaranteed offer or an assisted sale.
Valuation → firm offer
We price your block against live pre-IPO demand and issue a firm offer — from Polemarch directly or a matched verified buyer. Accept online.
Off-market transfer, then payout
Shares move by off-market demat transfer; your verified bank account is credited within T+2 working days of the transfer.
Who this is for
Built for early employees, angels and early investors holding shares in late-stage unlisted companies.
- You hold pre-IPO shares and want liquidity before the listing window.
- You'd rather have certainty now than a lock-in and listing-day volatility.
- You want a documented, tax-clean transfer rather than an informal deal.
- You want competing demand — dealers, HNIs, family offices — not one buyer's price.
Check your lock-in exposure
See how SEBI's pre-IPO lock-in would apply to your holding — and how long your shares would stay frozen after a listing.
The pre-IPO seller's handbook: lock-ins, windows and pricing
Everyone who holds pre-IPO shares is, in effect, holding two assets: the shares themselves, and an option on the listing. Selling before the IPO is a decision about which of the two you'd rather monetise. This section lays out the regulatory mechanics that shape that decision — without pretending anyone can predict how a listing will go.
How SEBI's lock-in actually works
Under SEBI's ICDR framework, the entire pre-issue capital of a company is locked in from the date of allotment in the IPO. For ordinary (non-promoter) pre-IPO shareholders the standard lock-in runs six months from listing; promoter holdings are locked longer, with a portion locked for an extended period as 'minimum promoter contribution'. The depositories enforce this automatically — locked shares carry a flag in your demat and simply cannot be delivered against an exchange sale until the flag drops.
The practical consequence is often missed: an IPO is not your exit date. Your realistic exit is listing plus six months, at whatever price prevails then — after the anchor lock-ins expire, after the first results as a public company, after the initial enthusiasm has met the first analyst notes. Selling in the pre-IPO secondary market is how holders bring that exit forward to a date and price they choose.
The window that closes: transfer freezes before listing
Between today and the listing sits a narrowing corridor. Once a company files its DRHP and moves toward its issue, transfers become progressively harder: the company and its bankers want a stable cap table for the prospectus, RTA processing slows, and closer to the issue the register is effectively frozen so allotment can proceed. Some companies restrict transfers even earlier by board policy.
None of this is announced to shareholders in advance. Sellers who wait for the 'perfect' pre-IPO moment often discover the corridor closed a month before they moved. If a sale is on your mind and your company has appointed bankers or filed papers, the binding constraint is the calendar, not the price.
How pre-IPO blocks get priced
Pre-IPO demand is the strongest bid most unlisted names ever see, but buyers are not paying listing-day prices — they're paying for a locked position plus execution risk. A rational buyer starts from the current secondary quote and adjusts for three things: the lock-in they will inherit at listing, the possibility the IPO slips or is shelved, and the size of your block relative to typical trades in the name.
As a seller you control two levers. Quantity: partial sales of moderate size clear faster and closer to quote than one large block. And method: a guaranteed offer from Polemarch gives you a committed number quickly, while an assisted sale runs your block past dealers, HNIs and family offices to find the best achievable price — slower, but competitive. Many sellers take the guaranteed quote as a floor and let the assisted process try to beat it.
Approvals, paperwork and the clean handover
Pre-IPO companies are usually still private limited companies, which means their Articles of Association can attach conditions to transfers — most commonly a right of first refusal (ROFR) for existing shareholders and, sometimes, board approval of the incoming buyer. These are procedural rather than fatal: the ROFR gets offered and waived or exercised on your same terms, and board approvals are routine when the buyer is a clean, KYC-verified counterparty. But they add days to weeks, so they belong at the start of your plan, not as a surprise at the end.
The transfer itself is a standard off-market movement: DIS quoting the ISIN, buyer demat details, execution date, stamp duty via the depository, and — once we verify the credit — settlement to your verified bank account within T+2 working days. Keep your CMR, PAN and holding statement consistent and current; mismatches between them are the single most common cause of pre-IPO deals slipping their dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Polemarch Guarantee?
After reviewing your holding, Polemarch can offer to buy your shares directly at a stated price. You accept or decline — if you accept, you transfer the shares and receive payment once they're verified. No waiting for a third-party buyer.
How do you arrive at the price?
We weigh recent secondary-market activity, current buyer demand, expected time to exit, liquidity and transaction costs. For assisted sales, the final price is what the market bears — we negotiate on your behalf.
Can I sell only part of my holding?
Yes. Partial sales are common — tell us the quantity in your request and we'll price that block.
How long does a sale take?
A guaranteed offer typically arrives within days of document verification. Assisted sales depend on demand for the company. Settlement after transfer is T+2 working days.
Is this legal and compliant?
Yes — transfers of unlisted shares between residents are routine off-market transactions, documented with a share transfer form/DIS and settled through the depositories. Polemarch is a SEBI/PMLA-conscious KYC platform; both sides are verified.
What is the SEBI pre-IPO lock-in, in plain terms?
When a company lists, SEBI's ICDR regulations lock the entire pre-issue shareholding for a period after listing — six months for ordinary pre-IPO holders, longer for promoters. During the lock-in your shares sit in your demat, converted and visible, but cannot be sold on the exchange.
Does selling now mean the lock-in never applies to me?
For the shares you sell, yes — lock-in attaches to whoever holds the shares at listing. Whatever you still hold on listing day is locked as usual. That's the mechanical trade-off this page is about: certainty now versus a locked, market-exposed position later.
The buyer of my shares — do they take on the lock-in?
If they still hold the shares when the company lists, yes — the pre-IPO lock-in applies to the holder of record at listing, which is one reason pre-IPO buyers price in a liquidity horizon. It's their consideration, not yours, once your sale has settled.
My holding is under 24 months old. Should I still sell?
That's a tax-timing question: unlisted shares held 24 months or more qualify for long-term capital gains treatment, shorter holdings are taxed as short-term at your slab. If you're close to the threshold, weigh the tax difference against the risk of the transfer window closing — and take advice on your own numbers.
What would a sale look like?
Enter your own numbers — we’ll show the arithmetic. Actual pricing is agreed deal-by-deal after valuation.
Based entirely on your inputs — not a price quote or an offer. Funds settle T+2 working days after share transfer. Taxes depend on your situation and are not included; this is not tax or investment advice. Unlisted securities carry risk; no assured returns.
Talk to the deal desk
Selling ESOPs or unlisted shares, planning a company liquidity program, or exploring an investment — share the details and our team responds within one working day.
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Unlisted securities carry risk. No assured returns.