Indonesian Wi-Fi modem rental company Passpod, or formally known as PT Yelooo Integra Datanet Tbk, is looking to raise US$2.6 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on October 29 this year, according to the Jakarta Post (paywall) today.
The funds will be used to boost business development and R&D efforts, as well as general working capital to procure more modems and power banks, it said.
The firm expects to raise this capital by issuing 130 million shares at between IDR 250 to IDR 375 (between US$0.016 to US0.025) each.
While the one-year-old company primarily operates portable 4G travel modems, it also provides users with related services, like discounted attraction tickets, which they can purchase off its website. The company added that after the IPO, it will work on providing additional services, from event ticketing to travel insurance. According to local business news site Kontan, the 4G modem product had 58,000 subscribers as of June 2018. The underwriter of the IPO will be Sinarmas Sekuritas.
Takeaways:
— It is uncommon to hear of Indonesian tech startups gearing up to go public, especially at such an early stage. There is an increasing number of venture capital funds fuelling the growth story of Indonesian startups, but perhaps Passpod may have the same idea as Kioson, a pioneer in Indonesian tech startups listing domestically.
— Reuters wrote in 2017 when the firm raised US$3.4 million through an IPO, that Kioson CEO Jasin Halim had wanted the e-commerce firm to be valued by the market instead of private funds.
— Other local listings include M Cash and its subsidiary NFC Indonesia, the former raising US$22 million through its IPO in 2017 while the latter raised US$21 million when it debuted in July 2018.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad