VC-backed news app Gunosy sees modest gain after Tokyo IPO
Shares in Gunosy - a Japanese news app developer backed by the venture capital firm Jafco, telecoms company KDDI Corp. and B Dash Ventures - is up marginally on its IPO price after two days trading in Tokyo.
Opening flat at JPY1,520, Gunosy ended its first day at JPY1,680 - a 10% premium on the IPO price. It fell back 2.16% on Thursday to close at JPY1,585, valuing the company at JPY34.6 billion ($291 million).
The IPO - for which the company filed last month - saw around 6.8 million shares, including the over-allotment, sold at JPY1,520 apiece for an total JPY10.3 billion. The company listed on the MOTHERS (market of the high-growth and emerging stocks) section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Founded in 2012 by Shinji Kimura and Yoshinori Fukushima, Gunosy has developed an app presents news content from more than 50 Japanese media outlets and divides them into customizable categories. The app has had 8.86 million downloads as of February.
The start-up raised $1 million from Telecoms giant KDDI in March 2013. KDDI returned the following June to invest JPY1.2 billion alongside Jafco and B Dash Ventures. Prior to the listing, KDDI and Jafco held 16.93% and 10.16% of the company, respectively, while B Dash had a 2.28% stake.
For the 12 months ended May 2014, Gunosy reported revenue of JPY359 million and a net loss of JPY1.39 billion. However, in the following six months - after the company introduced its own native advertising platform - revenue grew to JPY1.28 billion, cutting losses to JPY301 million.
Gunosy's debut comes just four months after VC-backed gaming company Gumi received an equally lukewarm reception when it listed on Tokyo's main board last December. The start-up was originally tipped for a $1 billion valuation but ended up on $797 million after selling 13.6 million shares at JPY3,300 a piece to raise JPY45 billion.
The stock has since slumped to JPY1,648 after Gumi last month predicted a surprise operating loss of JPY400 million for the year ending April. This compared to a previous forecast of a JPY1.3 billion profit.
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