China-based photo retouching app developer Meitu is set to raise up to $800m in its initial public offering according to China Money Network, which cited local media reports.
Meitu, which is backed by social media platform Sina Weibo and media company International Data Group’s Chinese VC affiliate, IDG Capital Partners, has scheduled roadshows next week and intends to float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shortly afterwards.
The company filed in August this year to raise between $500m and $1bn and sought a valuation of $5bn for its shares. It was valued at $3.7bn as of April 2016, according to a Forbes report.
Founded in 2008, Meitu has built an app that enables users to modify photos and post them online. It had 446 million users as of the end of June 2016 but has so far struggled to monetise the platform, and posted a RMB280m ($40.5m) loss for the first half of this year.
Meitu has raised approximately $500m in funding altogether according to media reports, though precise details for all its past rounds have not been disclosed. It raised a total of $360m across its series A to C rounds, the latter of which closed in 2014 at a $2bn valuation.
In addition to Sina Weibo and IDG Capital, Meitu’s investors include Innovation Works, Qiming Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management and Foxconn, the contract manufacturer with which it formed a strategic partnership in May 2015.