INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Mercari, the eBay-like service that is Japanese first tech startup unicorn, has filed to go public in an IPO that could raise as much as
$1.1 billion.
The company is scheduled to list on the Toyko Stock Exchange Mothers Market — a board for high-growth companies — on June
19.
The company reached the symbolic$1 billion valuation mark in 2016 when it raised a $75 million Series D.In doing so it became the first
Japanese tech startup to become a pre-IPO unicorn
Earlier this year, that valuation jumped to $2 billion following a $47 million investment.
The five-year-old company operates an online
‘flea market& that lets consumers sell unwanted goods with a focus on mobile.
Japan is its core market, but the company expanded into the
in 2014 and last year it entered Europe, initially via the UK
It boosted its overseas strategy in June 2017 when it hired former Facebook executiveJohn Lagerling as its first chief business officer to
guide its global strategy.
The business passed 100 million downloads worldwide at the end of 2017
Mercari said thatover 30 million downloads are in the U.S., with more than 60 million in Japan.Speaking earlier this year, CEOShintaro
Yamada — who sold his previous startupUnoh to gaming firm Zynga in 2010 — said success in the U.S
is essential if Mercari is to become an international player.
Japanese unicorn Mercari is gunning for eBay crown
Reuters reports that
Mercari forecasted share price of 2,200-2,700 JPY per share would see the company raise up to 117.6 billion JPY ($1.1 billion) at a total
market cap of 365.4 billion JPY, $3.3 billion.
It common for Japanese startups to go public, but it traditionally tends to happen much
earlier than in the U.S or other parts of the world
That often times down to investors — who seek to reduce the risk of their money not returning — and a relative lack of capital for
startups, but Mercari has held out longer than most and that might set an example for future companies.
For another thing, the return on
investment is impressive for many of Mercari backers, according to data from 500 Startups partner Yohei Sawayama — who tweeted out USD
returns.
ふと思い立ってメルカリのVCのリター
;ン計算してみた。想定仮条件の平均価
6684;の2,450円ベース。だいたいは目論見書か&#
12425;確定できたけど、GMOとITVは一部推測入っ
てる。 pic.twitter.com/SDPVjC0Njs
— Yohei Sawayama/澤山陽平 (@yohei_sawayama) May 15, 2018
