China’s fintech company Jianpu listed on NYSE on November 16th, with issuance code JT, our sister site TechNode China is reporting. Jianpu’s initial public offering price was $8 per ADS, lower than the previously identified range of $8.50 to $10.50 issue price.
Jianpu’s NYSE listing marks as the fourth Chinese internet finance company to go public in the United States in the second half of the year, following the steps of Chinese microlender Qudian, Hexindai, and PPDAI. Local media cast a shade on Qudian’s US IPO, because of Qudian’s sustainability. Student micro-loan was at its peak when Qudian grew, and the company claimed that now they suspended the service as the state has issued a ban on online loans in November 2015.
Jianpu (简普科技), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rong360, is registered in the Cayman Islands and Rong 360 is the Variable Interest Entity (VIE) of Jianpu. With its latest monthly active user base of 95.8 million, Jianpu has reached more than 2,500 financial institutions and has provided 170,000 financial products covering more than 350 cities nationwide.
On October 20, Rong360 filed an IPO application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the name of “Jianpu Technology” with the planned financing of up to $200 million.
“Establishing such an independent internet financial search service platform using the Internet search method, to quickly and efficiently match users and financial products, is very valuable, I’m very optimistic about this platform business, because it’s very scarce to see a company that brings this value,” said Mi Qun, founding partner at Lightspeed China Partners, one of the earliest investors of JianPu and its parent company Rong 360 remarked.
Established in 2011, Jianpu’s parent company Rong360 is a Chinese search and recommendation service for online financial products. The company has since completed four financing rounds, with its latest funding round being a $160 million Series D in 2015. By 2015, the company claimed that it includes some 170,000 financial products, of which over 70,000 are loans products. While Rong360 itself has a loan business, its listed company Jianpu does not provide loan service.
Jianpu said it will continue to focus on the independent open financial search and recommendation platform in the future, working on system integration and big data risk management to provide more in-depth solutions. In addition, the company mentioned that it will also broaden the coverage of financial products categories, such as insurance and wealth management products, so as to attract more users and increase user activity.
Rong360 (Jianpu) is backed by Lightspeed China Partners, a China-based venture capital fund focused on early investments in China’s Internet sector. A number of startups were backed by Lightspeed China Partners including, PPDAI, Junsheng Wanhe (merged with Qihoo 360), Dazhong Dianping, Tujia, Fangduoduo, Pinduoduo, Xingren Doctor, and eCheng.