Japan-based specialised staffing service Branding Engineer listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers Market on Tuesday, enabling corporates Crooz, InterWorks, MyNavi, Sega Sammy and Vector to exit.
The company’s shares were priced at ¥490 ($4.56) each and the offering could raise approximately $20.7m, including the greenshoe option.
Branding Engineer was founded in 2013 and runs multiple job search platforms and training schemes geared toward IT professionals. It most recently secured an undisclosed of funding from recruitment firm InterWorks in January 2019.
The InterWorks deal followed $980,000 from investors including marketing group Vector, consulting firm Value Create, conglomerate Jardine Strategic Holdings, East Ventures and Skyland Ventures in 2016. The company had raised $190,000 of seed capital from investors including Anri in 2016.
The company’s largest shareholders were founder and chief executive Yasuyuki Kawabata and chief operating officer Katsuya Takahara, who own 37.6% and 37.5% respectively.
Other notable investors in Branding Engineer include East Ventures (4.5%), executive recruitment firm MyNavi (3.4%), Orchestra Investment (1.8%), internet company Crooz and InterWorks (1.7% each), Vector (1.5%) and video game publisher Sega Sammy Holdings (0.8%).
