IPOs Spring Into Action, Think Xiaomi, Foxconn, More!
Lots of IPO action is going on this year, with several new listings getting off the ground. Read CNBC article for a preview: China tech unicorns going public.
China has fast-tracked approval of an IPO of by Apple iPhone maker Foxconn. The Shanghai public listing of a business unit of the Taiwan company drew criticism for jumping the queue of Chinese companies seeking a listing. Foxconn’s regulatory approval came in 36 days versus an average of nearly two years. China is favoring strategically important industries but the approval was hit for conflict of interest charges.
Chinese video streaming app Inke is planning a $300 million IPO in Hong Kong after failing with an attempt for a back-door A share listing. Inke was initially funded by SAIF Partners and GSR Ventures.
Another Chinese live video streaming startup, Sequoia Capital and Tencent-backed Kuaishou is aiming to go public in Hong Kong, sometime this year. The latest fund raising for Kuaishou valued the company at $18 billion.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly weighing a dual listing in Hong Kong and New York and gearing up for a $50 billion plus IPO valuation. The Xiaomi IPO could be a home run for such early backers as Qiming Venture Capital, IDG Capital, Morningside Group and Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital.
File-sharing company Dropbox, heading toward a $648 million IPO Nasdaq, saw IPO pricing on Monday that put Dropbox valuation at about one-third its peak in 2014 when Blackrock bought into the company. Dropbox’s valuation cut suggests decreases for other companies that similarly raised a lot of money at high valuations but remain unprofitable.
STARTUP FUNDING
Chalk one up for Huang Bao Che Trip, a Beijing-based online service to book chauffeur and tourist guide service, for raising $50 million from Sequoia Capital China, Matrix Partners and others.
Chinese biotech firm JW Therapeutics pulled in $90 million from Singapore’s Temasek and Sequoia Capital China to further its work on cancer therapies.
Tencent has pumped $632 million in Chinese online games streaming platform Douyu. Tencent followed up quickly by also leading a $461 million funding round in rival platform Huya.
COMMENT: You really gotta love the creative, far-out logos of these Chinese startups!
Southeast Asia
Singapore payment startup Consentium raised $10 million in funding, launching an Asian multi-currency and monetization effort built around chat.
Accelerator fund SOSV and angel investors have put capital into Malaysian business connector platform BEAM. The new funding will go toward expanding its business in close-by markets but also into China.
Indian furniture retailer Pepperfry has snagged $38 million from State Street Global Advisors, one week after rival Urban Ladder raised $12 million.
NOTEWORTHY
Ofo Borrows $280M from Alibaba as financial troubles escalate at bike sharing startup via China Money Network. Interesting read about in-fighting about Ofo investors Didi and Alibaba. This just in: Ofo has raised $866 million in debt and equity funding led by Alibaba.
