Line Man Wongnai, an on-demand meals supply service in Thailand, is contemplating an preliminary public providing on a Thai alternate or the U.S. in 2025, the corporate’s CEO and co-founder, Yod Chinsupakul, mentioned in an unique interview with TechCrunch.
Line Man Wongnai has but to finalize the place it would launch the IPO, however a dual-listing in Thailand and the U.S. just isn’t off the playing cards, Chinsupakul mentioned.
The corporate is backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC; Z Holdings, a three way partnership fashioned by SoftBank and South Korean web agency, Naver; and BRV Asia, amongst others. It has raised greater than $372 million in complete and has a valuation of greater than $1 billion.
“We are focused on continued business execution and restructuring as key priorities ahead of the potential IPO, and we will continue to assess our capital structure and financing needs, including various fundraising options,” Chinsupakul mentioned.
The corporate’s differentiators, in line with Chinsupakul, are its strategic partnerships with Line, and its understanding of buyer habits, native retailers, supply personnel and the regulatory atmosphere.
Wongnai began off as a restaurant overview platform in 2010. In 2020, it merged with Line Man, which gives meals and grocery supply, on-demand ride-hailing, and a messenger app. Then in 2023, the corporate acquired Rabbit Line Pay (RLP), a web based and offline fee platform, and FoodStory, a Thai level of sale (POS) startup. The corporate says the acquisitions strengthened its revenues and broadened its buyer base.
The merger with Line Man was a big milestone for Wongnai, as Line is Thailand’s hottest messaging app — utilized by greater than 90% of Thais, the app has over 50 million customers within the nation, Chinsupakul mentioned. What units the startup aside from its opponents, in line with the CEO, is its capability to leverage Line’s huge person base, as lots of the app’s customers select to make funds by way of the linked Line funds app.
Right now, the corporate gives every thing from meals and grocery supply and restaurant critiques, to a funds platform, POS for retailers, and ride-hailing — taking up opponents like Seize within the nation.
“Our history has proven that we are nimble and have the ability to execute strategic M&A. We always assess potential investment opportunities in pursuit of our strategic objectives, which may include potential investment and/or M&A if it supports our longer-term goals. We are very open,” Chinsupakul mentioned.
The CEO mentioned the corporate is intent on rising its POS enterprise for retailers and the funds service.
“Those two other businesses are relatively smaller than our food delivery business [as we are a latecomer], so we want to grow them multiple-fold,” Chinsupakul mentioned. The corporate will proceed to put money into rising its tech group, significantly on the information and AI aspect, he added.
Line Man Wongnai faces robust competitors within the meals supply area in Thailand from Singapore’s Seize and Indonesia’s GoTo, which have their very own tremendous apps and provide e-commerce providers, too.
Presently, GrabFood leads the meals supply market in Thailand with a considerable 56% market share, intently adopted by Line Man Wongnai at 53%. Shopee is available in at No. 3, adopted by Siam Industrial Financial institution (SBC)’s Robinhood as of April 2023, in line with a report by Statista.
Room to develop in Thailand
Chinsupakul identified that the penetration of on-line meals and grocery supply is low in Thailand and there may be ample room for progress. In February 2024, the penetration fee of on-line meals supply in Thailand stood at 27.14%, whereas that of grocery supply was at 17.34%.
As for ride-hailing providers, Chinsupakul mentioned individuals in Thailand nonetheless use on-demand taxi providers by way of apps, however the online-only market may very well be greater. Journey-hailing apps’ person penetration available in the market is anticipated to succeed in 19.8% this yr, per Statista.
When requested if the corporate goals to turn into a brilliant app like Seize and GoTo, Chinsupakul mentioned Line Man Wongnai is aiming larger. “A super app is for the consumer side only, but Line Man Wongnai’s services are for both consumers and merchants. We are more of a combination of Meituan and WeChat Pay.”
The corporate desires to deal with the Thailand market at this level and isn’t contemplating increasing into different Southeast Asian nations earlier than going public.