M17, the parent company of Singapore based dating app Paktor aim to raise around $115 million in a US Initial Public Offering (IPO). In a single year, M17 entertainment grew 30 times in revenue from $3.68 million in 2016 to $90 million in 2017.
As famous as Paktor is amongst Singaporean users, it still accounted for less than 10% of M17’s annual revenue. 17 live; the most popular live-video streaming app is the shiny knight that was responsible for 90% of M17’s annual revenues.
17 live app became the prodigal son for M17 as its initial costs went high due to contracting various artists to increase customers which initially led to mounting losses but as the video streaming app popularized among the users, people started to buy digital gifts from their favorite artist for hundreds and thousands of dollars per gift.
This business model turned the tables for M17 and made it equivalent to $31.4 million in cash and other sellable resources. Despite its improving finance, M17 still needs a breathing room in terms of money to become profitable. Enter the US IPO. Even with $31.4 million in cash, they will still not last another quarter, so the $115 million IPO is their hope to survive and prosper.
M17 was not confident in hosting another private funding round as their stats revealed that their revenue growth is booming but monthly active user growth is going down in spirals. So, no company would invest in them, giving them no other choice but to look at USA market for their next round of investment.
Conclusion
M17 has become a classic example of successful business fighting for its survival just because of obsolescence of their product. They are throwing their last Hail Mary towards US stock market in hopes to score a last-minute touchdown.
The future of M17 Entertainment and all its subsidiary companies lies on this $115 million IPO. Only time can tell what in store for M17 Entertainment.
