Waterdrop, a China-based digital health insurance provider backed by corporates Meituan Dianping, Tencent and Swiss Re, has filed for a $100m initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange.
Founded in 2016 and also known as Shuidi Huzhu in Chinese, Waterdrop runs a healthcare and life insurance crowdfunding platform for patients suffering from critical illnesses such as cancers or people who have encountered accidents that entail high medical fees.
The company logged $464m in revenue in 2020, making a net loss of almost $102m. The IPO proceeds will be used to provide equity incentives to employees, expand its healthcare and insurance businesses, carry out research and development and conduct strategic investments and acquisitions.
Company founder Peng Sheng is Waterdrop’s largest shareholder, owning a 26.4% stake through family trust Neptune Max Holdings, followed by Image Frame Investment, a vehicle for internet and gaming group Tencent, which holds 22.1%.
Other major shareholders in Waterdrop include funds affiliated with Boyu Capital (11.9%) and vehicles for venture capital firm Gaorong Capital (6.5%) as well as reinsurance firm Swiss Re’s Principal Investments Company Asia unit (5.7%).
Tencent provided $150m for Waterdrop in November 2020 after co-leading its $230m series D round with Swiss Re three months earlier, investing alongside IDG Capital and Wisdom Choice Global Fund at a $2bn valuation. Boyu Capital led its $145m series C round in mid-2019, investing with Tencent, CICC Capital and Gaorong Capital.
Tencent led a $74.3m series B round for the company earlier in the year that included BlueRun Ventures, Gaorong Capital, IDG Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Wu Xiaoguang and Yuri Milner. Its shareholders also include local services portal Meituan Dianping and ZhenFund.
BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs (Asia) and Morgan Stanley are lead underwriters for the offering and are being joined by ABC International Securities, China Merchants Securities, China Renaissance, Citic CLSA and Haitong International.
