Soulgate, which provides the gamified social networking app Soul in China, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering on Thursday. It had filed to raise $185 million by offering 13.2 million ADSs at a price range of $13 to $15. The company postponed in June 2021 after reportedly receiving other offers to raise capital.
Soul is a virtual social network app created to address the drawbacks of current social media platforms. Users, called "Soulers," create a new identity in Soul's virtual universe to freely create, share, explore, and connect with other users. The company generates interest graphs for each user and sends them to different "planets" based on their passions to connect with other like-minded users. In March 2021, the company averaged 9.1 million DAUs, a 94% increase over the prior-year period.
The Shanghai, China-based company was founded in 2016 and booked $102 million in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2021. It had planned to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol SSR. Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, BofA Securities, and CICC were set to be the joint bookrunners on the deal.
