Enechange, a Japan-based energy switching tool developer backed by multiple corporate investors, has been authorised to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
The initial public offering (IPO) is due to take place on TSE’s Mothers Market on December 23 and is set to involve the company issuing 50,000 shares, with 57,000 shares to be available through the greenshoe option.
The IPO’s price range will be disclosed on December 3 while bookbuilding will take place from December 7 ahead of pricing on December 11. Enechange will be valued just short of ¥3bn ($28.7m).
Founded in 2015, Enechange operates a price comparison platform for electricity, natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. Users can switch between the energy supplies depending on their housing or business premises needs.
The company also provides software-as-a-service products for utility companies, including digital marketing platform Emap and smart meter-equipped system Smap.
Enechange closed an ¥800m ($7.1m) round in late 2018, raising an initial ¥700m from energy company Showa Shell, conglomerate Sumitomo, gas providers SK Gas and Tokyo Gas, utility Hokuriku Electric Power, employee training technology developer Looop and brokerage Daiwa Securities in October.
The company received ¥100m the following month from Nanto CVC, Senshu Ikeda Capital and Resona Capital, on behalf of financial services firms Nanto Bank, Senshu Ikeda Bank and Resona Bank respectively.
The 2018 round had followed $4.9m secured in 2017. Financial services firm Mizuho Financial Group’s Mizuho Capital subsidiary provided roughly $500,000 in March after a $4.4m tranche two months earlier featuring Opt Ventures, the subsidiary of digital marketing company Opt now called Bonds Investment Group, and VC firm IMJ Investment Partners.
Electronics equipment producer Hitachi and VC fund Energy & Environment Investment had injected $3.5m in Enechange in 2016, after a $1.8m round the year before featuring energy infrastructure company Epco and VC partnership B Dash Ventures.
Enechange’s other shareholders include Energy Station Company Limited, Daiwa Energy Infrastructure and Spiral Capital.
