In the wake of a massive downturn in the market, the IPO window has all but closed for technology companies, but there is still an opening for some. A data intelligence company that has amassed 1.6 billion user profiles attached to 70 million locations in 44 countries will be listing on the stock market. The ticker will be : : : : :.
The company is getting a $100 million equity investment from an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald.
If you've been following Near or the SPAC market, you'll know that there were rumors of KludeIn talking to Near back in December. Near was aiming at a valuation of between $1 billion and $1.2 billion with the listing. The last several months have seen the IPO market virtually shut down alongside a massive drop in technology stocks across the board and a wider downturn in tech investing overall.
Near, which was founded in Singapore in 2012 and is now based in Pasadena, raised around $134 million in funding, including a $100 million round in 2019.
According to KludeIn's SEC filings, its investors include the likes of Sequoia India and JP Morgan. Near had tried to raise money in May 2021.
Near is an interesting example of a situation that a lot of later-stage startup might be in at the moment.
On the other hand, the company has some big customers and some potentially interesting technology, especially in light of the swing from regulators and the public toward demanding more privacy in data intelligence products overall.
It works with major brands and companies, including McDonald's, Wendy's, Ford, the CBRE Group, and 60% of the Fortune 500, which use Near's interactive, cloud-based artificial intelligence platform. The database has been built with privacy in mind.
It says that its approach is patent-protected, giving it a kind of moat against other competitors, and potentially some value as an asset for others that are building big data businesses and need more privacy.
While financials detailed in KludeIn's SEC filings show growth, it is at a very modest pace, and numbers may not look that great to investors in the current climate. In 2020, Near had revenues of $33 million, with an estimated revenues of $46 million for 2021, $63 million for 2022, and $91 million for 2023. The company estimates that its gross profit margin will be over 70% this year, but that it will be negative for the rest of the year.
The image is near.
It will be interesting to see how many other people follow the company in taking the SPAC exit route.
The position Near and KludeIn are taking is very much in line with the supporters' opinion that SPACs are a faster, more efficient route for strong startups to enter the public markets and thus raise money from more investors.
Near answers critical questions that help drive and grow businesses for more than a decade. The market demand for data around human movement and consumer behavior to understand changing markets and consumers is growing and now is the time to accelerate the penetration of the large and undiscovered $23 billion.
Narayan Ramachandran, the chairman and CEO of Near, said he was thrilled to partner with the entire team at Near as they continue to help global enterprises better understand consumer behavior and derive actionable intelligence from their global, full-stack data intelligence platform.
They have enabled public listings for companies that might have found it much harder, if not impossible, to do so through the scrutiny of more traditional channels. Sometimes that has played out okay, but sometimes it has ended badly for everyone. Enjoy said this week that it was on the verge of running out of money by June and was looking at strategic options.
Time, the appetite for more data intelligence and possibly some factors out of its control like the investment climate will show which way Near will go. If there are no redemptions and a successful private placement of KludeIn common stock, the transaction is expected to generate $268 million of gross proceeds.
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