Japan's PE-backed Sansan files for IPO
Sansan, a PE-backed company that specializes in cloud-based business card digitization, has filed for a domestic IPO that is expected to generate around JPY35.2 billion ($321 million).
Up to about 8.6 billion shares will be offered, according to a filing. An indicative IPO price of JPY4,075 per share was contemplated in a separate disclosure. Pricing is expected to be formally set on June 7, with the company listing later the same month.
Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Goldman Sachs, and DCM are among the largest exiting shareholders. Other exiting investors include CyberAgent Ventures, Nissay Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and Energy & Environment Investment.
It follows a JPY3 billion Series E round in December led by Japan Post Capital with support from DCM, SBI Investment, and T Rowe Price. That round brought total funding to JPY11.4 billion and coincided with reports describing the company as Japan’s next unicorn. The company received a JPY4.2 billion Series D in 2017. Other investors include Mirai Creation Investment, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment, Sparx Group, GMO Ventures Partners, and Nikkei Digital Media.
Founded in 2007, Sansan uses optical character recognition software to organize the information on paper business cards, track job changes of people on record, and monitor their social media presence. The system is positioned as an “internal social network of business contacts” that is particularly supportive to the sales and marketing departments. It has claimed an accuracy rate of 99.9% and to be in use by more than 7,000 companies globally.
Japan’s technology start-up market has experienced increasing investor interest in the past year largely on the back of renewed confidence in exits. Most notably, this has been supported by a $1.2 billion IPO last year by flea market app Mercari. It was the first major IPO for a mature, venture-backed company in a market typically criticized for small, premature floats. IPO activity is set to accelerate next year as companies aim to leverage publicity related to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
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