Line Man Wongnai, an on-demand food delivery service in Thailand, is considering an initial public offering on a Thai or US stock exchange in 2025, the company’s CEO and co-founder Yod Chinsupakul said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch.
Man Wongnai line has not yet decided where it’s going to conduct its initial public offering, but a dual listing of the company in Thailand and the US is not ruled out, Chinsupakul said.
The company is backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC; Z Holdings, a three way partnership between SoftBank and South Korean web company Naver; and BRV Asia, among others. In total, it has raised over $372 million and its valuation is over $1 billion.
“Ahead of a potential public offering, our focus is on going concern and restructuring, as well as continuing to evaluate our capital structure and financing needs, including various fundraising options,” Chinsupakul said.
According to Chinsupakula, the company’s differentiators are its strategic partnerships with Line and its understanding of customer behavior, local merchants, delivery personnel and the regulatory environment.
Wongnai began as a restaurant review platform in 2010. In 2020, she merged with Lineman, which offers food and grocery delivery, on-demand transportation, and a messenger app. Then in 2023 the company took over Rabbit Line Pay (RLP)online and offline payment platform and The history of food, a Thai point-of-sale (POS) startup. The company says the acquisitions have increased its revenues and expanded its customer base.
The merger with Line Man was a milestone for Wongnai, as Line is the hottest messaging app in Thailand — the app, which is used by greater than 90% of Thais, has greater than 50 million users in the country, Chinsupakul said. According to the CEO, what sets the startup apart from its competitors is its ability to tap into Line’s massive user base, as many app users decide to make payments through Line’s connected payments app.
The company now offers every thing from food and grocery delivery to restaurant reviews, to a payment platform, merchant outlets and passenger transportation services – beating out competitors like Grab in the country.
“Our history has shown that we are agile and able to execute strategic mergers and acquisitions. We always evaluate potential investment opportunities in pursuit of our strategic goals, which may include potential investments and/or mergers and acquisitions if this supports our long-term goals. We are very open,” Chinsupakul said.
The CEO said the company intends to expand its merchant point-of-sale and payment services businesses.
“These other two corporations are relatively smaller than our food delivery company [as we are a latecomer], so we wish to breed them many times,” Chinsupakul said. He added that the company will proceed to take a position in the development of its technology team, especially in data and artificial intelligence.
Line Man Wongnai faces stiff competition in Thailand’s food delivery market from Singapore’s Grab and Indonesia’s GoTo, which have their very own super apps and also offer e-commerce services.
Currently, GrabFood is the leader in the food delivery market in Thailand with a significant market share of 56%, closely followed by Line Man Wongnai with 53%. Shopee ranks third followed by Robinhood Siam Commercial Bank (SBC) as of April 2023. Statista report.
Room to grow in Thailand
Chinsupakul identified that the penetration of online food and grocery delivery is low in Thailand and there is a lot of room for growth. As of February 2024, the online food delivery penetration rate in Thailand was 27.14%, while grocery delivery was 17.34%.
In terms of passenger transport services, Chinsupakul said Thai people still use on-demand taxi services via apps, but the online-only market might be larger. Market penetration by passenger transportation app users is expected to succeed in 19.8% this yr, per Politician.
Asked if the company goals to turn out to be a super app like Grab and GoTo, Chinsupakul said Line Man Wongnai goals higher. “The Super App is intended for consumers only, but Line Man Wongnai’s services are intended for both consumers and sellers. We are more of a combination of Meituan and WeChat Pay.”
The company desires to focus on the Thai market at this point and is not considering expanding to other Southeast Asian countries before going public.