Base, a Japan-based e-commerce platform backed by internet company CyberAgent, department store operator Marui and online marketplace Mercari, has filed for an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers Market.
The company plans to issue 405,000 shares and will set a price range on October 8, before pricing them on October 17. It has allocated another 1.2 million shares for the over-allotment option and Daiwa Securities has been appointed lead underwriter for the proposed offering.
Base provides tools that enable merchants to quickly launch an online store, and has also created a payment processing service, Pay, that it spun off in early 2018. It posted approximately $21.7m in revenue in 2018, making a $7.4m loss.
Base most recently secured $13.3m in a January 2018 round led by venture capital firm Global Brain, with participation from accounting software provider Money Forward.
The company had previously raised $14.3m in funding from SMBC Venture Capital and SBI Investment, respective investment units of financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and SBI Group, as well as VC firm Suneight Investment, in 2016.
Mercari had invested $4.5m in Base earlier the same year, after Global Brain had supplied $3m in funding in 2014. CyberAgent Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of CyberAgent, led a $2.7m round for the company in 2013 that included East Ventures, Suneight Investment and PartyFactory.
Global Brain owns a 19% stake in the business, followed by SBI Ventures (15.4%), CyberAgent (9.6%) and Marui Group, which holds 6.7% a stake, though it is unclear when it acquired those shares. PartyFactory owns a 5.6% share and East Ventures 5.5%.
