SOCAR, a South Korean car-sharing startup, has filed for an initial public offering, according to Korea Exchange, which was announced on Wednesday. The specifics, such as the number of shares to be offered in the IPO and the price range, have yet to be determined, according to a SOCAR spokesperson.
After raising $50.7 million (60 billion won) in October 2020, SOCAR’s valuation has risen to around $834 billion (1 trillion won). According to a company spokesperson, the company has raised approximately $275 million since its inception in 2011. According to media reports, SOCAR’s estimated valuation after listing in the first half of this year will be $2.5 billion (3 trillion won).
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SK Holdings, Bain Capital, Premier Partners, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Altos Ventures, KB Investment, Stonebridge Ventures, LB Private Equity, SG Private Equity, and others have previously invested.
According to Jaewook Park, CEO of SOCAR, the company plans to launch a transportation super app this year that will provide all-in-one mobility services such as car-sharing, electric bike-sharing, parking lot search, car-hailing, train reservation, and more. Park also stated that SOCAR intends to replace a portion of its vehicle fleet with zero-emission vehicles, such as electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles, by 2030 and to expand its autonomous car business.
SOCAR will use the IPO proceeds to make additional acquisitions and advance its technology, according to Park. Last month, the company completed two acquisitions: Modu Company, a South Korean online parking platform, and Elecle, an electric bike rental platform. In 2018, SOCAR also invested in the autonomous driving startup RideFlux.
In 2011, the 11-year-old company launched a car-sharing service in Jeju with 100 rental cars, followed by a mobile app in 2012. In 2018, SOCAR acquired VCNC, a Korean mobile messaging app platform, to operate Tada, a van-hailing service. (However, due to South Korea’s revised law, which restricts ride-hailing to only licenced taxis and limits rental car services from offering drivers, with the exception of vans with 11 to 15 seats, the startup was forced to discontinue its van-hailing service in 2020.) SOCAR sold a 60 percent stake in the ride-hailing arm to Viva Republica, the Seoul-based fintech firm behind Toss, last October.
SOCAR established a Malaysia-based subsidiary, SOCAR Malaysia, in 2018, which has raised a total of $73.2 million to date.
The mobility platform industry in South Korea has become more competitive as local car-hailing companies such as Kakao Mobility and TMAP Mobility actively expand their operations in the country with the goal of becoming the mobility super app. In October, Uber Technologies joined the fray by forming a joint venture company with TMAP Mobility, which is owned by Korean telco behemoth SK Telecom, to provide ride-hailing services in South Korea.
According to reports, Kakao Mobility intends to go public in two years, while TMAP Mobility intends to go public by 2025.
According to a company spokesperson, its car-sharing competitors include Zipcar, Turo, and getaround.