Ruhnn, a China-based backed social influencer network backed by e-commerce firm Alibaba, filed yesterday to raise up to $200m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market.
Founded in 2016 as Hanyi E-Commerce, Ruhnn operates an ecosystem of influencers – popular online figures who leverage their social media presence to sell products – allowing marketers and brands to hire them to advertise on their behalf.
The company also offers its influencer clients training and support, and creates products for them to sell that are based on their individual personality. It generated almost $125m in revenue in the last nine months of 2018, making a net loss of approximately $8.4m.
About 40% of the IPO proceeds will go to strategic investments, as Ruhnn looks to seek out more monetisation opportunities. It has earmarked 30% for locating and assisting in the development of new influencers, and 20% to boost its big data and artificial intelligence technology.
The only funding disclosed by Ruhnn in the IPO filing consists of $88.9m in funding from undisclosed investors in October 2018, though Alibaba subsidiary Taobao China owns approximately 8.6% of its shares.
Shanghai Yuanqiong Enterprise Management, a subsidiary of Xiamen Saifu Equity Investment Partnership, which is in turn owned by tobacco and clothing brand Septwolves, also holds an 8.6% stake, while Tianjin Junlian Zhiru Enterprise Management owns 8.5%.
Ruhnn’s largest shareholders are Ruhnn1106 Investment, a vehicle for Ruhnn chairman Feng Min (27.5%); China Himalaya Investment, which represents influencer Zhang Yi (15%) and Leiyu Investment, a vehicle for CEO Sun Lei (14.6%).
Citigroup Global Markets and UBS Securities have been appointed joint bookrunners for the offering.
