How this remittance startup is shaping up for its IPO

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Have you had friends who went on diets and exercise regimes in order to look good for their wedding? Suddenly, this guy or girl who’s never so much as found out how to pronounce “gym” is going to spin classes and eating a third of what they used to.

As it turns out, companies need to do something similar to prepare for a public listing. Today’s premium article explores Nium’s efforts.

Today, we look at:

• A Singapore remittance startup taking steps toward an IPO
• Sequoia Capital India putting money into Philippine logistics
• Other newsy highlights such as the crowning of a new unicorn in the cloud kitchen space and more tech firm investigations in China following actions against Didi Chuxing

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Shape up or ship out

What do you do when you’ve set a target to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 18 to 24 months? Why, you double down on streamlining your financial numbers, of course. Here’s how remittance startup Nium is going about it.

• That’s a lot of Xs: Nium has brought down its negative earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in 2020 by 73x to just US$353,000 from the US$25.4 million hit it took a year prior. However, this was mainly due to a one-time gain on derecognition of financial liabilities. Excluding this amount, the company would have posted an operating loss of US$17.6 million.
• Stonks: The fintech firm saw its revenue grow by more than 2x to US$16.7 million in 2020 from US$7.4 million the year before, and it was also able to cut its operating losses by about US$7.8 million.
• Spending smartly: The startup is expected to keep spending on rapid expansion – over the past couple of years, it’s launched a variety of card-related solutions and locked down partnerships with companies such as Travelex in Hong Kong, Tred in the UK, Rimuut in a number of markets in the EU, and Australian travel super app Pelikin.

Read more: Remittance startup Nium shaves losses, more than doubles revenue in 2020

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Seeding the Philippine ecommerce logistics scene