Paktor / M17 Looking to Raise $115 Million in IPO

14th May 2018 Scott Harvey

M17 Entertainment, the parent company of Singaporean dating app Paktor, is looking to a NYSE IPO to raise $115 million in funding.

e27 reports that the IPO is set to be underwritten by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities, Daiwa Capital Markets and Mizuho Securities.

Much of the IPO will focus on the live streaming potential of other properties under the M17 umbrella, such as dedicated platform M17 media.

The company is looking to increase the number of content creators on its service, while expanding into Japan and pushing for profitability.

As part of the strategy, Paktor will reportedly look to integrate live streaming with dating in an effort to accelerate user growth.

M17 has outlined its strengths and weaknesses in preparation for the IPO, claiming that it is a leading site for Asian video content but that it also struggles to attract and retain new users.

It ran at an operating loss of over $60 million in 2017. In Q1 2018, it ran at a loss of over $25 million.

Its dating properties currently boast 700,000 monthly active users, split between the brands Goodnight, Kickoff and Paktor. The user base grew 100,000 sequentially.