VC-backed RareJob goes public in Japan

The company sold 299,000 shares - comprising 100,000 new shares and 199,000 existing shares - at JPY1,170 apiece, the top end of the indicative range, to raise JPY349.8 million ($3.5 million). The stock then swept past JPY2,500 during early trading on the Mothers (market of the high-growth and emerging stocks) section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

RareJob uses Skype to provide one-to-one English tuition for as little as JPY129 for a 25-minute session, largely relying on Philippines-based university graduates to serve as teachers. The company claims to have handled more than 10 million lessons for over 200,000 students since launching in 2008, helping 10,000 individuals augment their income in the process.

KDDI Open Innovation Fund, CyberAgent Ventures and Yahoo Japan-owned YJ Capital participated in a JPY330 million round of funding for RareJob in June 2013. The Global Brains Corp-managed KDDI fund previously backed the company in 2008. Another existing investor, Mitsubishi UFG Capital, also re-upped.

KDDI and JY Capital each own 5.02% of RareJob. CyberAgent has 1.76% and CyberAgent's CA Startups Internet Fund I has 0.75%, while Mitsubishi UFJ Capital owns 0.88%. Other investors include Google Ventures on 15.11%.

RareJob reported a consolidated net profit of JPY35.3 million for the year ended March 2014, compared to a loss of JPY109.2 million the previous year. Revenues were RMB1.69 billion in 2014, up from JPY1.13 billion in 2013.

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