The employee portion of D2C unicorn Mamaearth’s initial public offering (IPO), which opened on Tuesday (October 31) amid significant volatility in the market, was oversubscribed within the first few hours.

Of the 34,013 shares reserved for employees, bids were placed for 56,166 shares as of 2 PM IST, as per the BSE data. This translates to a 1.65X subscription.

Meanwhile, the overall demand for the IPO remained muted in the first half on the first day of the offer.

While retail investors bid for 13.25 Lakh shares as against 52.48 Lakh shares reserved for them, the non-institutional investors’ portion was subscribed 0.01X, with bids placed for just 1.07 Lakh shares.

No bids were received from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Overall, the IPO was subscribed 0.05X till 2 PM IST on day 1.

The IPO of the D2C beauty and personal care unicorn will close on November 2. Mamaearth has set the IPO price band at INR 308-INR 324 and is targeting a valuation of about $1.2 Bn through the offering.

On Monday, Mamaearth raised a total of INR 765.2 Cr from anchor investors by allocating 2.36 Cr equity shares.

The startup’s IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to INR 365 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of 4.12 Cr shares.

Founded in 2016 by the husband-wife duo of Varun and Ghazal Alagh, Mamaearth’s parent Honasa’s brands also include Aqualogica, The Derma Co., and Ayuga, and acquired stakes in BBlunt and Dr. Sheths.

While the fate of Mamaearth’s IPO remains uncertain, especially in the near future, it might become a significant and defining trend for all unicorn IPOs.