ZBJ.com submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Yes"Enterprise Service Community**".The so-called Zhubajie.com once again launched an attack on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
HKEX documents show thatOn December 17, ZBJ.com (hereinafter referred to as "ZBJ.com") submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CITIC ** and CCB International as the joint sponsors.
The Company is a customized enterprise services e-commerce platform, with a total GMV of 76 for the six months ended June 30, 20233.8 billion yuan.
The latest prospectus of ZBJ.com Source: Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
ZBJ.com has repeatedly sought listing, hitting the NASDAQ in 2011, submitting its listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2019, and submitting prospectuses to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2022 and April 2023.
It is understood that Zhu Mingyue, the founder and CEO of ZBJ.com, had 10 years of experience in the industry, and later came out to start a business and set his sights on the field of e-commerce. At that time, there were players who did all kinds of e-commerce tracks, and Zhu Mingyue took a fancy to the enterprise service e-commerce that few people had laid out.
In 2006, ZBJ.com was established, and successfully seized the Internet outlet and became the pig sitting on the tuyere.
According to the prospectus, ZBJ.com focuses on the use of technology to intelligently match the service needs of enterprise employers and the skills of service providers through the platformMatching transactions between employers and service providers
To put it simply, ZBJ.com provides a trading platform, where employers post demands, attach bounties, and finally service providers and individuals complete transactions with employers.
In the early days, ZBJ.com mainly acted as a middleman, charging a 20% commission from successful matching transactions.
Later, in order to avoid the drawbacks of the commission model that is easy to copy, ZBJ.com began to transform and continuously improve its business layout through financing and other meansIt soon became the leader of the crowdsourcing service trading industry, with a valuation of more than 10 billion yuan.
In 2007, Zhu Mingyue received 5 million angel funds from Xiong Xinxiang, chairman of Chongqing Boen, and at the end of that year, the annual transaction volume of ZBJ.com exceeded 40 million yuan, becoming the first in the industry.
In 2011, ZBJ.com received $6.66 million in Series A investment from IDGIn 2014, it received $17.5 million Series B investment from IDG and Chongqing Cultural Investment Group
In 2015,ZBJ.com received a total of 2.6 billion yuan in Series C financing from Cybernaut Investment and other institutions. This was the largest amount of financing obtained by a domestic Internet platform at that time, and it also made itZBJ.com is valued at 11 billion yuan
The "living fossil" of the industry that has been losing money year after year
Since its establishment, 17 years have passedAlthough it became a leading enterprise in the Internet industry early, it has not been successfully listed for a long time
In 2011, ZBJ.com began to prepare for the U.S. stock listing plan, but it has been stalled in the preliminary stage. In 2015, the prospect of the A-share bull market was very good, and ZBJ.com gave up its plan to go public in the United States and hit the A-share IPO instead.
Since 2022, ZBJ.com has submitted prospectuses to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange many times. In the past 12 years, ZBJ.com has changed its listing destination three times, but it has never been successfully listed.
The Internet industry has passed, and ZBJ.com has missed the best time to go public. Now ZBJ.com is facing the dilemma of declining revenue and annual losses of hundreds of millions.
According to the prospectus, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and June 30, 2023, the company's revenue was 75.7 billion yuan, 76.8 billion yuan, 54.1 billion yuan, 25.2 billion yuan;During the same period, the company's losses during the year were 26.9 billion yuan, 36.7 billion yuan, 2300 million yuan, 07.8 billion yuan.
The latest prospectus of ZBJ.com Source: Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
At present, there are 4 categories of services on the ZBJ.com platform, namely:Enterprise service platform(also divided into matching services, membership services, advertising services, tools and subscription services);Smart Enterprise Services(including finance and taxation, intellectual property rights, science and technology consulting services);Industrial services(It is also divided into new entrepreneurial park services, industrial solution services) and**Regional enterprise service ecology to promote cooperation
Among them, the basis of the enterprise service platform is the ZBJ.com platform, which operates through the Internet, AI and big data technology to provide enterprises with matching services, membership services, advertising services, tools and subscription services.
As of June 30, 2023, the ZBJ.com platform offers more than 810 service optionsThe cumulative number of registered users reached 34.6 million, of which the cumulative number of enterprise employers reached 26.9 million, and the cumulative number of service providers reached 7.7 million.
In terms of cash flow, the company's net cash used in operating activities was -3496 for the six months ended June 30, 2020, 2021, 2022 and June 30, 202320,000 yuan, -938860,000 yuan, -20.3 billion yuan, -994110,000 yuan.
During the same period, the company's cash and cash equivalents were 56.9 billion yuan, 42.4 billion yuan, 31.6 billion yuan, 19.1 billion yuan.
According to the prospectus, ZBJ.com has excessive marketing expenses and labor costs. According to statistics, in 2020, 2021, 2022 and the first six months of 2023, the company's sales and marketing expenses were 28.1 billion yuan, 28.2 billion yuan, 24.6 billion yuan, 12.4 billion yuan, totaling more than 900 million yuan.
In contrast, the company's expenditure on R&D was much less, with 7,945 in the same period50,000 yuan, 808890,000 yuan, 825910,000 yuan, 384210,000 yuan.
In terms of manpower, from 2020 to 2022, the salaries of the main management personnel of ZBJ.com are 607430,000 yuan, 86850,000 yuan and 379390,000 yuan. Among them, the founder Zhu Mingyue's salary is 541840,000 yuan, 9460,000 yuan, 317380,000 yuan.
As of June 30, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Company's gross profit margin was in. 1%, all remain above 50%, but have been declining year by year.
Judging from the current situation, ZBJ.com has been in a state of loss for 4 consecutive years, although it has a huge user base and high gross profit, but the future prospects are not optimistic. If ZBJ.com wants to be successfully listed, I am afraid it still needs a long way to go.
New opportunities and challenges
The era of AI has arrived, and this year, thanks to the development of large-scale model technology, many companies have launched generative AI applications to enable intelligent services. For example, DingTalk, Kingsoft Office, etc.
With the help of AI technology,Employers can easily achieve drawing, copywriting, brand marketing, program writing, etc., which improves work efficiency and reduces costs.
This is bound to have an impact on the brand design, audio-visual services, construction, UI design, writing and content services provided by the ZBJ.com platform.
Source: The official website of the ZBJ.com platform.
In the prospectus, ZBJ.com has made it clear that it will use the Internet, AI and big data technology to operate the platform and improve service quality and efficiency. At the same time, it can provide service providers with easy access to a wide range of enterprise employers in different regions to reduce customer acquisition costs.
For the next development strategy, ZBJ.com also said that it will continue to innovate technology, strengthen platform capabilities, and improve service efficiency.
AI is both an opportunity and a challenge for ZBJ.com. Technical services may be a breakthrough point for the development of the platform in the future.
According to the prospectus, as of June 30, 2023, ZBJ.com has obtained 47 patents and 430 software copyrights, and has deep technical accumulation in the field of artificial intelligence and big data analysis.
In addition to the head platform "Zhubajie.com", China's customized enterprise service players also include Yipinweike, Time Fortune, Freelancer China, Niupian Network, K68, Zhongrenbang, Yunchuang Platform and other platforms. In foreign countries, there are also Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, Toptal, etc.
It is worth noting that Yipinweike, which is second only to Zhubajie.com, has also launched its IPO process in the United States this year.
EPWK Holdings Ltd., the de facto controlling shareholder of Yipinweike Network Technology Co., Ltd(hereinafter referred to as "Yipinweike") submitted its statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this year and updated its prospectus four times.
Yipinweike prospectus Source: SEC
According to the prospectus, Yipinweike's operating revenue in fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022 recorded 1136 respectively$630,000 (about 7728.)850,000 yuan. $110,000 (about 8711.)290,000 yuan);Net profit was 62$380,000 (424.)080,000 yuan), -340$590,000 (-2315.)430,000 yuan). In fiscal year 2022, the company turned from profit to loss.
The industry's leading players seem to be stuck in the problem of difficulty in making profits, which involves many factors. And customized corporate services act as a middlemanIt is inevitable to encounter the problem of ** merchant service, which will reduce the trust of enterprise employers, and ultimately affect the transaction and even the competitiveness of the platform
According to the Black Cat complaint platform, Zhubajie.com and Yipinweike have been complained by users many times due to online fraud, refund problems, false publicity, etc. How to improve service levels, strengthen supervision, and enhance platform credit is a problem that every industry player needs to think about.
Recently,ZBJ.com has reached a cooperation with Sesame Enterprise CreditZBJ.com merchants can display "enterprise sesame strength indicators" such as "excellent credit of sesame enterprises" and "entity management level is better than the same industry" in the store file, highlighting the advantages of service providers' stores in multiple dimensions.
"** business", "A-level taxpayer", "technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises".and other logos appear on the ZBJ.com platform, which increases the trust of merchants and enhances the purchase confidence of enterprise employers.
According to the prospectus,ZBJ.com's business and operating results in July and August 2023 recorded significant growth compared to the same period in 2022.
On the road full of opportunities and challenges, the former industry giants are looking for a development path that is more suitable for the new era.
Author |Pandora.