WealthNavi, a Japan-based automated investment software provider backed by corporates Gree, Opt, NEC Corporation and Sony, has been approved to float on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
The company will list on TSE Mothers Market on December 22 and is set to issue 2.5 million shares priced at ¥1,100 ($10.60) each to raise $26.5m according to The Bridge, with some 1.6 million shares reserved for the greenshoe option.
The price range for the initial public offering will be revealed on December 3 while bookbuilding will take place from December 7 ahead of pricing on December 11. The offering will value WealthNavi at about $475m.
Founded in 2015, WealthNavi has developed an asset management consulting bot to help users diversify their investment portfolios. It is managing more than $3bn of assets on behalf of 340,000 clients.
The company had raised $134m in equity funding as of November 2019, when it closed a $37.6m round featuring Opt Ventures, NEC Capital Solutions and Sony Financial Ventures, vehicles for digital marketing firm Opt, IT services firm NEC and consumer electronics producer Sony respectively.
SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital and Resona Capital took part in the round on behalf of financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank and Resona Bank, while UTokyo Innovation Platform, Japan Co-Invest and DBJ Capital did so for University of Tokyo, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment and Development Bank of Japan. Chiba Dojo Fund invested directly.
Sony’s Innovation Fund had chipped into a $35.5m round for WealthNavi the year before, joining financial services firms SBI and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (through Mitsubishi UFJ Capital), SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, Global Brain, Mirai Creation Fund – sponsored by SMBC and carmaker Toyota – and Kōtarō Chiba.
Sony Innovation Fund, Mirai Creation Fund, Mizuho Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, DBJ Capital and Global Brain had all backed a $41m round for the company in February 2018. It had completed a $14.5m series B round in 2016 that included Mizuho Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, DBJ Capital, SBI and Infinity Venture Partners.
WealthNavi’s earliest funding was a $4.8m round in 2015 featuring contributions from SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and digital media company Gree’s Strive fund (then called Gree Ventures), DBJ Capital and Infinity Venture Partners.
