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, stated in an unique interview with TechCrunch.
Line Man Wongnai has but to finalize the place it can launch the IPO, however a dual-listing in Thailand and the U.S. is just not off the playing cards, Chinsupakul stated.
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 whole and has a valuation of greater than $1 billion.
“We’re centered on continued enterprise execution and restructuring as key priorities forward of the potential IPO, and we’ll proceed to evaluate our capital construction and financing wants, together with numerous fundraising choices,” Chinsupakul stated.
The corporate’s differentiators, in accordance with Chinsupakul, are its strategic partnerships with Line, and its understanding of buyer conduct, native retailers, supply personnel and the regulatory atmosphere.
Wongnai began off as a restaurant evaluate platform in 2010. In 2020, it merged with Line Man, which presents 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 cost 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 stated. What units the startup other than its rivals, in accordance with the CEO, is its skill to leverage Line’s huge person base, as most of the app’s customers select to make funds via the linked Line funds app.
At present, the corporate presents the whole lot from meals and grocery supply and restaurant opinions, to a funds platform, POS for retailers, and ride-hailing — taking over rivals like Seize within the nation.
“Our historical past has confirmed that we’re nimble and have the power to execute strategic M&A. We all the time assess potential funding alternatives in pursuit of our strategic targets, which can embrace potential funding and/or M&A if it helps our longer-term targets. We’re very open,” Chinsupakul stated.
The CEO stated the corporate is intent on rising its POS enterprise for retailers and the funds service.
“These two different companies are comparatively smaller than our meals supply enterprise [as we are a latecomer], so we need to develop them multiple-fold,” Chinsupakul stated. The corporate will proceed to put money into rising its tech staff, notably on the information and AI facet, 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 supply 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 Business Financial institution (SCB)’s Robinhood as of April 2023, in accordance 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’s ample room for development. In February 2024, the penetration price 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 stated individuals in Thailand nonetheless use on-demand taxi providers by way of apps, however the online-only market may very well be greater. Trip-hailing apps’ person penetration available in the market is anticipated to achieve 19.8% this yr, per Statista.
When requested if the corporate goals to turn into an excellent app like Seize and GoTo, Chinsupakul stated Line Man Wongnai is aiming larger. “An excellent app is for the buyer facet solely, however Line Man Wongnai’s providers are for each customers and retailers. We’re extra of a mix 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 international locations earlier than going public.
