Bidso Turned Their Demat Process From a Complex Burden to an Autopilot Process

Company background

Bidso is a B2B contract toy manufacturer founded in 2022 by four co-founders with experience at companies like Flipkart, Udaan, Amazon, and ITC. The company focuses on making India a consumer goods manufacturing hub for global brands, starting with kick scooters, tricycles, and ride-ons. Bidso has secured multi-year licensing partnerships with major brands including Hello Kitty, Chhota Bheem & Friends, and Hasbro's iconic IPs (Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony), with products available on platforms like Flipkart.

The company has completed multiple fundraising rounds over its two-and-a-half-year journey and recently secured fresh funding in a Pre-series A round led by Eternal Capital, with participation from existing investor Peer Capital and new investors including Marshot Ventures and Atrium Ventures.

The challenge

When Bidso first encountered the mandate for share dematerialisation, co-founder Vivek Singhal faced several critical challenges.

Initial confusion and misdirection‍

Vivek had no prior experience with the dematerialisation process and initially tried to handle it through traditional channels. His first approach was reaching out to retainer lawyers who provided explanations that were difficult to understand.

"I was clueless, honestly, and wasn't even aware of how the process works. My initial thought was that maybe the lawyers would be able to handle it. They gave me a whole brief about what to do, but I didn't grasp most of it."

Complex equity structure

Bidso had an intricate cap table with one equity class and six CCPS classes, which is more complex than usual shareholding.

Traditional service provider limitations‍

Conventional providers expected extensive founder involvement and lacked understanding of startup priorities.

"Traditional businesses don't understand that I'll be unaware about the process requirements and therefore won't be able to help them much. They'll keep saying 'this is pending on you' or 'that is pending on you,' which I definitely don't want. If I've given you the job, it should all be pending on you."

The solution

EquityList's dematerialisation advisory services provided Bidso with complete support that addressed all their pain points.

Streamlined onboarding‍

After the initial confusion with traditional approaches, Vivek connected with EquityList through a referral and was able to share all necessary documentation directly.

End-to-end process management‍

Rather than requiring Bidso to coordinate multiple parties, EquityList's demat advisor took complete ownership of the process, working directly with the company's legal and finance teams (while requiring minimal founder involvement).

"After EquityList’s demat advisor started working with our finance and legal teams, I was hardly involved in the process and was just looking at the email chains to stay updated."

Founder-focused approach‍

EquityList's understanding of startup dynamics was crucial for a successful partnership.

"EquityList works with startups (and big companies alike) and empathized that we won’t have the time or resources to be thorough. Your team understands the priority level that we'll dedicate to this, given that we have our business to run while the demat process is ongoing."

Autopilot operations

The advisory process ran smoothly in the background while the founder focused on business operations.

"It was very much on autopilot. EquityList’s demat advisor was coordinating with everyone internally, and that's what I wanted. Legal and finance were given instructions that anything the advisor needed should be done."

Results and impact

The dematerialisation advisory services delivered significant benefits for Bidso.

Zero founder friction

Vivek experienced no pain points during the entire process.

"I don't remember feeling any kind of pain or frustration about why the demat process was taking so long or what the government was doing. I didn't even feel like this was a big process."

Minimal operational disruption‍

The advisory process was so efficient that it required very little attention from the founder compared to regular business operations.

Full compliance achievement‍

Despite the complex equity structure, Bidso’s ISINs were generated smoothly with all regulatory requirements met through the advisory team's guidance.

Key takeaways

Choose advisory partners carefully‍

Traditional service providers may not understand the bandwidth constraints and operational priorities of growing startups. EquityList's startup-centric advisory approach was crucial to Bidso's success.

Advisory ownership eliminates coordination overhead‍

Having a single advisory team take full accountability removes the burden from founders and internal teams.

Complex structures are manageable with expert guidance‍

Even intricate cap tables involving multiple share classes can be handled smoothly through experienced advisory services.