Earlyworks
Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵
Industry: Blockchain
Region: Asia 🌏
Founded: 2018
Expected Valuation: $75.2 million
IPO Date: 2023 (expected)
Earlyworks co., ltd.
Key Company Facts
| Founded | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Sector | Finance |
| Industry | Blockchain/Finance |
| Founders | Hiroki Yamamoto, Sei Kobayashi |
| Number of employees | 3 |
| IPO Date | 2023 |
| Number of investors | 9 |
| Total funding | $8.7 million USD |
| Valuation estimate | $75.2 million USD |
Company Overview & History
Earlyworks is a next-generation blockchain technology company headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, specifically Japan. Founded on May 1, 2018, by Hiroki Yamamoto and Sei Kobayashi, the company focuses on the development of high-speed, highly scalable, and secure blockchain technologies.
Earlyworks was created to develop the Grid Ledger System, a blockchain-type software technology used in various sectors, including metaverse applications. Their primary offerings include advertisement tracking, online visitor management, and NFT sales.
Financial Performance
As of 2022, Earlyworks had raised a total of $8.7 million in funding over seven rounds. Their latest funding was raised on May 3, 2022, from a Venture - Series Unknown round, amounting to $3.3 million.
In January 2023, Earlyworks initiated the process for a US IPO, setting terms for a $6 million IPO. The plan was to sell 1.2 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at a proposed midpoint price of $5.00 per ADS, leading to an estimated enterprise value at IPO of approximately $64.2 million.
Revenue
| Year | Revenue (JPY) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 216.21 million |
| 2022 | 463.72 million |
Business Model
Earlyworks seeks customers that need its software development, consulting, and solution service offerings. It’s noteworthy that the company’s top three customers accounted for 81.5% of its revenue for the fiscal year that ended on April 30, 2022, indicating a high customer concentration risk.
The company planned to invest the net proceeds from its IPO in the research and development of its Grid Ledger System (GLS) and GLS-SDK, recruitment of global talents, and strengthening of internal governance systems.
Estimated Valuation
| Year | Valuation (USD) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $75.2 million |
Risk Factors
One significant risk factor for Earlyworks is its high customer concentration. As previously mentioned, the top three customers accounted for over 81% of its revenue for the fiscal year ending in April 2022.
This dependence on a small number of customers could expose the company to substantial financial risk if any of these clients were to reduce or cease their business with Earlyworks.
Market Opportunity
According to a 2022 market research report by Grand View Research, the global market for blockchain technologies was estimated at $5.9 billion in 2021, with a forecast to reach $1.6 trillion by 2030.
This rapid market growth presents a significant opportunity for companies like Earlyworks that are involved in blockchain technology development.
Competitors
- BlockTower Capital
- Korbit
- MovoCash
- IBM Corp.
- Microsoft Corp.
- The Linux Foundation
- BTL Group Ltd.
- Chain