MySQUAR, the Myanmar-language social media platform that rolled out mobile messaging app MyChat last year, is hoping to raise $1.5 million in an initial public offering on London’s AIM exchange in mid-May, Deal Street Asia reported on Thursday.
“When we started talking to MySQUAR, smartphone penetration in Myanmar was 7 percent – it became 10 percent by the time we reached a deal – it is growing that quickly,” said Shashi Fernando, Chief Executive Officer at Yonder and Beyond, an Australia-listed firm with a 3 percent stake in MySQUAR.
News of the listing was reported in the Financial Times in March. But in that article, the figure of $2.5 million was given as the goal, not $1.5.
The newly affordable cost of SIM cards and the entry into the market of foreign firms Telenor and Ooredoo, who competed for customers with state-backed Myanma Posts and Telecommunication, have made smart phones more the norm than the exception.
According to FT, mobile phone penetration is expected to grow to 75-80 percent by 2016, or 46-49 million users.
Fernando said MySQUAR saw a window not just in terms of growth but language access.
“It was also felt that existing social media applications like wechat and line were not configuring for Burmese language. So the opportunity was there. The reality is that, it is not easy to invest in companies Myanmar, and the main reason we are listing is to allow people to have access to Myanmar market, as well as raise money for development.”
MySQUAR looks to be valued at $25 million after the IPO, Fernando told Deal Street Asia, adding that the platform grows by 5,000 users daily, and that nearly 1.5 million users will sign on by the end of the year.
In August, the platform launched MyChat, which was designed with Myanmar youth in mind. Users can switch between English and Myanmar languages and exchange emoticons wearing thanakha.
It faces competition from Facebook and Viber, which both enjoy popularity in the country.
MySQUAR is listing on AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s “international market for smaller growing companies,” a description on its website says.
Photo: MySQUAR
