Viral online retailer Koala has raised $20 million as part of its initial public offering (IPO), ahead of listing on the ASX next week.
As part of a $68 million IPO prospectus, which values the business at $305 million, Koala banked $20 million in new capital at $3.40 per share.
Existing investors have sold $48.1 million worth of their stock in the float, including cofounder Mitch Taylor, who offloaded $8.3 million worth of shares in the secondary sale.
The raise will give new investors a 20.65% slice of the Koala (ASX:KOA) pie. Half of the fresh capital, $10.1 million, will be applyd to retire debt.
The direct-to-consumer bed and furniture creater was founded in Byron Bay a decade ago by Taylor and CEO Dany Milham, who returned to the business in 2024, following a 2-year, ill-feted foray into grocery delivery startups with Milkrun. He will hold a 20.7% stake in the business alongside his $630,000 a year job as CEO.
The largest shareholder is Perennial Partners with 22.7%, after selling down in the float. Alium Capital has 5%.
Koala’s first true believer was former Australian test cricket captain and champion batsman Steve Smith, who invested $100,000 in the startup’s Seed round for a 10% stake in 2015. Within four years, that holding was more than $10 million – known as a 100-bagger, or unicorn investment.
You’ll see the Koala logo on the bottom of Smith’s bat every time he raises it after the 100-bagger bags another century innings.
In its early days, Koala build brand awareness with an aggressive social media strategy that led satirical news site The Betoota Advocate to write a story headlined “Man purchases Koala mattress just to obtain their ads out of his f–king newsfeed“.
One of the most viral moments, pictured above, featured a man jumping on a Koala mattress with a glass of red wine on the other side of the bed, seen by more than 5 million people on YouTube.. It doesn’t relocate. He picks it up and drinks it.
Koala’s prospectus forecasts total revenue hitting $332m, up 20% on FY2025, with Australian sales representing around half that figure at $166.5m, up 10.5% in 12 months.
Its listing is scheduled for March 31 at 11am.
The company did not respond to Startup Daily‘s request for comment.
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