The June 30 filing for a Hong Kong IPO therefore has drawn much attention from investors for its ambition to be the first metaverse stock to be listed in the financial hub. Finally, it ditched the plan completely early last month. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell its shares on the Nasdaq, only for it to suspend that plan a year ago in deference to alternative funding options. It was this heady rush of early success and promise of more ahead that prompted it to apply to the U.S. Each DAU spends about 45.3 minutes a day on the app, bringing the monthly average three-month user retention rate to as high as 79.1%.Īnd in the past three years, the number of average monthly paying users was 268,900, 929,300 and 1.7 million, respectively, and the monthly average income from each paying user was 21.9 yuan ($3.26), 43.5 yuan and 60.5 yuan, respectively.
Of the MAUs, a whopping 74.9% were from Generation Z. Last year, Soul’s monthly active users (MAU) and average daily active users (DAU) were 31.6 million and 9.3 million, respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 51.6% and 55.8%. Users can also spend the virtual currency, Soul Coins, to buy virtual items and membership privileges, including special avatars, virtual gifts and increased recommendation opportunities. Soul’s value-added services include sales of virtual products and member subscriptions that reward users with various time limited privileges. Gross margins have also jumped to 85.2% from 48.6% in the same period. Soulgate’s revenue skyrocketed to 1.28 billion yuan ($191 million) in 2021 from 70.7 million yuan in 2019, of which value-added services were 1.20 billion yuan, accounting for 93.9% of the total. All of this this has translated into strong user and revenue growth. In addition, user privacy is well-protected, with participants not required to disclose their real names, locations or age, nor upload personal data and pictures, negating the risk of exposing their true identity. Launched in 2016, Soul’s self-developed AI algorithm enables users to find like-minded people and a wide range of community and gamification functions, which have been particularly appealing to the younger generation. The metaverse, a highly immersive virtual reality, is one of the most imaginative evolutions of social media platforms. As China’s first metaverse-based social networking platform, where all users interact via avatars with virtual identities, Soul has become very popular among Generation Z users, or those born between the mid-1990s and 2010.Īnd although it strenuously denies being a dating app, it is generally described as thus, a reputation that certainly has helped boost its appeal.
Much like love at first sight, on the surface Soulgate has plenty of eye-catching appeal for investors. However, whether it can generate that magic spark with investors remains to be seen after posting widening net losses as it burns through cash on marketing to attract more users and develop new technology. HK) Soulgate Inc., the operator of the eponymous metaverse social networking app Soul, is finally looking to get its fund-raising groove on by applying for an IPO in Hong Kong, a month after dropping a year-long suspended plan for a more than $250 million listing on New York’s Nasdaq.
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