Masaru Ikeda
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Tokyo-based Makuake, the crowdfunding site under the umbrella of Japanese tech giant CyberAgent (TSE:4751), announced today that the IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on December 11, is expected to reach $155 million valuation.
Founded back in May of 2013 as the previous name of CyberAgent Crowdfunding, Makuake has been offering a rewards-type crowdfunding service under the same name since then. In collaboration with celebrities, the company has launched many notable crowdfunding projects, thus attracting more users. They are also massive to partner with other firms from overseas doing the same business for international expansion.
According to the consolidated statement of this year’s third quarter ending on September 30, they posted revenue of 916.8 million yen (about $8.4 million) with an operating profit of 56.3 million yen ($515,000), an ordinary profit of 59.3 million yen ($543,000), and a net profit of 42 million yen ($384,000).
The company had experienced failures such as no deals on certain campaigns in the past, which forced them to take prevention measures and declined temporarily their sales, but has become profitable since the fiscal period ending in September 2017. They now have almost 60 employees in their team.
Led by CyberAgent (71.36%), Makuake’s major shareholders include Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda’s KSK Angel Fund (13.71%) and the company’s CEO Ryotaro Nakayama (5.05%). CyberAgent’s ratio of shareholding will drop to less than 60% since CyberAgent and KSK are expected to sell their shares after the public offering.
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