According to a securities and exchange commission filing, Paktor, along with its parent company and subsidiaries (collectively called M17 Entertainment), is eyeing for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
Filed on the 11th of May, M17 Entertainment is looking to raise a total of US$115 Million through the proposed IPO.
Founded by Joseph Phua in May 2013, Paktor is a personal dating app often dubbed as “The Tinder of Southeast Asia”. Since then, Paktor has expanded beyond the shores of Singapore, and launched its own offline dating service GaiGai.
In 2017, Paktor ventured into the live streaming and media space following a merger with Taiwanese startup 17 Media, forming M17 Entertainment.
Here’s the group structure taken from the IPO filing:
According to the IPO filing, while the group has made a respectable US$90 Million in revenue in 2017, it incurred a total lost of US$61.8 Million in loss for the year, a by product of a fast growing tech company. Most of the revenue growth comes from its live streaming service, US$71.8 million in 2017, which is a jaw dropping 1800% increase compared to its livestreaming revenue in 2016.
The revenue is derived from its 46.3 million registered users in 2017.
Moving forward, M17 Entertainment is looking to focus on the Japan market, the largest media and entertainment market by advertising revenue in Asia.
On top of that, the group is also looking to double down on proprietary online TV programs, including cooking shows, singing performances, fortune teller shows, entertainment and celebrity news shows, fashion shows and sports shows, many of which are hosted by the group’s artists.
Various other revenue model from the group can also potentially turn into multi million dollar revenue generating channels, such as online competition and offline events, e-commerce and advertising, e-sports as well as talent management, all of which are detailed on the IPO filing.