WealthNavi navigates its way through $173m IPO

WealthNavi, a Japan-based robo-adviser developer that counts University of Tokyo (UTokyo) Innovation Platform as an investor, floated in Japan yesterday in a ¥17.9bn ($173m) initial public offering, Bloomberg reported.
The company’s shares were priced at ¥1,150 each and that price increased 68% on its first day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange valuing it at just over $500m.
Founded in 2015, WealthNavi has built an online investment platform that utilises artificial intelligence technology to assess the risk appetite of each customer. It manages some $3.1bn of assets on behalf of its customers and puts the cash into exchange-traded funds.
The offering follows some $134m in equity and debt financing, the most recent of which was a $37.6m round in November 2019 featuring UTokyo Innovation Platform.
Digital marketing agency Opt, IT services firm NEC and consumer electronics manufacturer Sony, through Opt Ventures, NEC Capital Solutions and Sony Financial Ventures respectively, also took part in that round.
SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital and Resona Capital invested in the round on behalf of financial services firms Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank and Resona, and were joined by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment’s Japan Co-Invest fund, DBJ Capital and Chiba Dojo Fund.
Sony’s Innovation Fund, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital and DBJ Capital were existing investors, while WealthNavi’s earlier backers include digital media company Gree’s Strive fund, financial services firm SBI, Global Brain, Mirai Creation Fund and Infinity Venture Partners.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.