Viral online retailer Koala has raised $20 million as part of its initial public offering (IPO), ahead of listing on the ASX this 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 co-founder Mitch Taylor, who offloaded $8.3 million worth of shares in the secondary sale.
Related Article Block Placeholder
Article ID: 332759
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 two-year, ill-fated 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 built brand awareness with an aggressive social media strategy that led satirical news site The Betoota Advocate to write a story headlined “Man acquires Koala mattress just to obtain their ads out of his f–king newsfeed“.
One of its 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, and has been seen by more than five million people on YouTube. It doesn’t shift. He picks it up and drinks it.
Koala’s prospectus forecasts total revenue hitting $332 million, up 20% on FY2025, with Australian sales representing around half that figure at $166.5 million, 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.
This article was first published by Startup Daily.
Leave a Reply