Japan-based, corporate-backed advertising chatbot developer Zeals has been approved to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)’s Mothers Market on December 23.
The company plans to issue 2.5 million shares and will set a price range on December 7 before pricing them eight days later. It has allocated some 1.11 million shares for the over-allotment option.
Founded in 2014, Zeals initially created an automated conversation software and chatbot management tool dubbed Fanp, but later pivoted its business to focus on the development of interactive messenger marketing technology.
The company had secured $16.3m in April this year from investors including marketing groups Dentsu and Hakuhodo DY Holdings, the latter through its Future Design Fund, as well as Z Holdings, a holding company backed by internet groups Naver and SoftBank.
Jafco filled out the equity portion of the April round, which also included an undisclosed amount of debt financing from unnamed financial institutions.
Internet company CyberAgent’s Fujita Fund had joined returning investors including Jafco to provide $3.1m for the company in 2019, the year after the latter had backed a $3.8m series B round, participating together with marketing technology provider FreakOut Holdings.
FreakOut Holdings had already supplied $710,000 in series A funding for Zeals in 2017, following a seed round of undisclosed size from recruitment firm Will Group two years earlier.
Daiwa Securities, Credit Suisse Securities, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, SBI Securities, Matsui Securities, Rakuten Securities and Monex have been appointed lead underwriters for the proposed offering.
