Fringe81, a Japan-based advertising software provider backed by corporates including media companies Gree and TBS, has filed for an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, The Bridge has reported.
The company is expected to float on June 27, 2017, offering 108,800 shares priced at $18.60 each – placing the size of the IPO at just over $2m. The underwriters, led by Nomura Securities, have been granted 39,000 shares in over-allotment options, which would boost the offering to nearly $2.75m.
Fringe81 will confirm the pricing range on June 6, with book-building scheduled to begin two days later. The final pricing is expected to be announced on June 15.
Founded in 2005 as RSS Kokokusha, Fringe81 initially focused on advertising in RSS feeds but pivoted in 2010 to develop a range of advertising technologies. Its products include Digitalice, a cloud-based platform that enables businesses to analyse campaign performance.
The company secured $3.5m in 2015 from Gree and TBS as well as NTT Docomo Ventures, iStyle Capital and Dentsu Digital Holdings, the respective corporate venturing divisions of telecommunications firm NTT Docomo, market design business iStyle and marketing firm Dentsu.
Itochu Technology Ventures, previously the investment vehicle of diversified conglomerate Itochu, invested $2.6m in Fringe81 in 2013.
The company’s majority shareholders include Itochu Technology Ventures (which owns a stake of approximately 16.8%), marketing company Cyber Communications (5.54%) and internet company CyberAgent (5.48%).