Goldman-backed Chinese Pet Services Firm Boqii Sets Terms For $77m IPO

Boqii Co, a Goldman Sachs-backed Chinese pet products and services platform, has announced terms for its US IPO, with plans to raise $77 million by offering 7 million ADS for $10 to $12 each.

The target is lower than the $115 million it intended to raise when it filed its redacted documents earlier this month with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

At the midpoint of the proposed range, the company would command a fully diluted market value of $998 million, the filing showed. Boqii intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BQ.

Shanghai-based Boqii.com was launched in September 2008 and started as an online pet encyclopedia, as well as a website for pet enthusiasts to exchange and share their pet raising experience.

“Boqii was founded for the love of pets. With this belief, we are inspired to empower the pet ecosystem and instill love and trust into pet parenting,” the company said.

The company later entered into the e-commerce field, delivering pet-related products like dry & wet pet food, treats and snacks, shampoo, clothes, and beds before it further expanded offerings in 2014 to cooperate with offline pet stores and hospitals to provide pet fostering, grooming, sterilization, and healthcare services, among others.

The company offers customers access to 17,853 SKUs as of June 30, 2020, and it delivered more than 43.2 million online orders to its customers from its inception.

The filing comes about three months after Boqii raised over $60 million in fresh funding. Goldman Sachs also invested $25 million in Boqii.com’s Series B round in February 2014. It first poured money into the company’s Series A round in October 2012 along with JAFCO Asia, a subsidiary of Japanese venture capital firm JAFCO.

For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2019 and 2020, net revenues generated from the sale of products were 798.0 million yuan ($117 million) and 767.5 million yuan ($109 million). It reported a net loss of $24.9 million in the fiscal year ended March 31. In the second quarter, the company posted revenue of $33.7 million and a loss of $6 million.

Boqii, which has partnered with over 410 brands, plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to further invest in content innovation, membership system development, and R&D, including big data technology, among others.