Stanley Ho’s Youngest Son Mario Leads First Listed Chinese Company In The Esports Industry

NIP, which achieved a milestone as the first listed Chinese company in the esports industry, raised a total of US$20.25 million from its offering of 2.25 million American depositary shares at US$9 per share.

“Looking back at this journey, we started as an esports team [and] has now grown into becoming the representation of the global esports industry,” said Ho, NIP’s co-founder, chairman and co-chief executive, in a speech during the bell-ringing ceremony at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York City.

“NIP group is ready to leave a significant mark on the global gaming industry as a Nasdaq-listed company,” he said, adding that going public in the US was a “dream-come-true” moment for him as an entrepreneur.

Nasdaq vice-chairman Bob McCooey on Friday lauded Ho, born in 1995, for becoming the youngest founder of a Nasdaq-listed company in Asia. Ho is also the largest individual shareholder of NIP after the IPO, with a 13.6 per cent stake.

NIP intends to use the net proceeds from its US listing for working capital, expanding the presence of its esports teams, marketing and growing their fan base, potential strategic acquisition and investment opportunities, according to its prospectus.

The group’s listing reflects the growing popularity of esports around the world, as well as its vast commercial opportunities.

The market size of the global esports industry is expected to reach US$102.4 billion in 2027, up from US$57.9 billion in 2022, according to a Frost & Sullivan report cited in NIP’s prospectus. NIP was described by the report as “a leading esports organisation” with the most expansive global footprint on the back of operations across Asia, Europe and South America.

“What esports really lacks is not money, but the scenarios of making money,” said Zhang Shule, an analyst at CBJ Think Tank.

“[NIP’s] listing may provide sufficient funds for the company, but after that, the key to the future still depends on its profit model,” he said.

While it recorded a net revenue of US$83.7 million last year, up from US$65.8 million in 2022, NIP is still a loss-making enterprise. Net losses last year widened to US$13.3 million, compared with US$6.3 million in 2022. The company’s prospectus said that loss reflected the “substantial investments we made to grow our business”.