Line Man Wongnai, an on-demand food delivery 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’ll launch the IPO, however a dual-listing in Thailand and the U.S. will not be off the playing cards, Chinsupakul mentioned.
The firm is backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC; Z Holdings, a three way partnership fashioned by GentleBank 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 are targeted 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 mentioned.
The firm’s differentiators, in accordance with Chinsupakul, are its strategic partnerships with Line, and its understanding of buyer habits, native retailers, delivery personnel and the regulatory surroundings.
Wongnai began off as a restaurant assessment platform in 2010. In 2020, it merged with Line Man, which gives food and grocery delivery, 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 firm 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 in the nation, Chinsupakul mentioned. What units the startup aside from its opponents, in accordance with the CEO, is its means to leverage Line’s large consumer base, as lots of the app’s customers select to make funds via the linked Line funds app.
Today, the corporate gives all the pieces from food and grocery delivery and restaurant opinions, to a funds platform, POS for retailers, and ride-hailing — taking up opponents like Grab in the nation.
“Our historical past has confirmed that we’re nimble and have the flexibility to execute strategic M&A. We all the time assess potential funding alternatives in pursuit of our strategic goals, which can embody potential funding and/or M&A if it helps our longer-term objectives. 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 different companies are comparatively smaller than our food delivery enterprise [as we are a latecomer], so we need to develop them multiple-fold,” Chinsupakul mentioned. The firm will proceed to speculate in rising its tech staff, notably on the info and AI facet, he added.
Line Man Wongnai faces powerful competitors in the food delivery area in Thailand from Singapore’s Grab and Indonesia’s GoTo, which have their very own tremendous apps and provide e-commerce companies, too.
Currently, GrabFood leads the food delivery market in Thailand with a considerable 56% market share, intently adopted by Line Man Wongnai at 53%. Shopee comes in at No. 3, adopted by Siam Commercial Bank (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 food and grocery delivery is low in Thailand and there’s ample room for development. In February 2024, the penetration fee of on-line food delivery in Thailand stood at 27.14%, whereas that of grocery delivery was at 17.34%.
As for ride-hailing companies, Chinsupakul mentioned folks in Thailand nonetheless use on-demand taxi companies through apps, however the online-only market could possibly be greater. Ride-hailing apps’ consumer penetration in the market is predicted to achieve 19.8% this 12 months, per Statista.
When requested if the corporate goals to turn into an excellent app like Grab and GoTo, Chinsupakul mentioned Line Man Wongnai is aiming increased. “An excellent app is for the buyer facet solely, however Line Man Wongnai’s companies are for each customers and retailers. We are extra of a mixture of Meituan and WeChat Pay.”
The firm desires to give attention to the Thailand market at this level and isn’t contemplating increasing into different Southeast Asian international locations earlier than going public.
