What happened: Tencent-backed marketing and cloud services provider Weimob filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong on August 6. Weimob provides cloud services and marketing solutions to small-to-medium sized enterprises via WeChat.
Why it’s important: WeChat has become a major portal and millions of enterprises are looking to promote their business on the platform. Weimob was one of the first service providers on WeChat Official Accounts in 2013 and also is among the first group of enterprises that sell market solutions through WeChat’s mini programs. The company now has more than 2.6 million merchants for its SaaS product alone, which serves small businesses. Despite the promising market prospect, recent tech IPOs in Hong Kong has experienced headwinds, which cast doubt whether Weimob’s IPO would satisfy its investors.