Appier, a Taiwan-based enterprise software tool developer backed by Japan-listed conglomerate SoftBank, raised ￥29.8bn ($271m) in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Appier’s shares were priced at ￥1,600 each in the IPO and closed up 19% at ￥1,900 at the end of first day. SoftBank owned 4.4% of Appier, according to regulatory filings seen by Taipei Times.
In November 2019, Appier received $80m in a series D round featuring UMC Capital, the corporate venturing arm of semiconductor producer United Microelectronics Company.
The round included Hopu-Arm Innovation Fund, a joint venture between mobile chipset manufacturer Arm (owned by SoftBank) and private equity firm Hopu Investment Management, as well as Pavilion Capital, Jafco Investment, TGVest Capital and Insignia Venture Partners.
Appier secured $33m in a mid-2017 series C round backed by telecommunications group SoftBank, messaging app provider Line, internet company Naver, investment bank AMTD and the Singaporean government-owned EDBI.
The company closed its $42.5m series B round in 2016 with $19.5m provided by Pavilion Capital, WI Harper Group, FirstFloor Capital and Qualgro.
The initial $23m was supplied by MediaTek Ventures and UOB Venture Management, respective subsidiaries of fabless semiconductor maker MediaTek and financial services firm United Overseas Bank, as well as Jafco Asia, TransLink Capital and existing backer Sequoia India.
