Innovative Job App Firm Timee Jumps in Japan Stock Trading Debut

Shares of Timee Inc. — the developer of an innovative job matchmaking app helping address Japan’s severe labor shortage — jumped 14% in their first day of trading.

The stock closed at ¥1,650 Friday on Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth market, after the nation’s largest initial public offering so far this year. The shares were sold at ¥1,450, the top of the expected range. The Tokyo-based firm’s market value of about ¥157 billion makes it the largest among 95 listings of application software companies in Japan since 1994, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

With a chronically low birthrate, aging population and strict immigration policy, the job crunch in the world’s fourth-largest economy is acute. The Bank of Japan’s latest Tankan survey of business sentiment showed shortages are on the rise, particularly among non-manufacturers, which are experiencing their worst manpower constraints in more than 30 years.

The service offered by Timee is aimed at filling gaps with so-called “spot work” that matches employers with people seeking jobs for specified periods of time and locations. Such arrangements offer greater flexibility than traditional part-time jobs as well as gig work like ridesharing and food delivery.

The company won’t get any of the roughly $300 million in proceeds from the IPO, as the shares are being sold by holders including Ryo Ogawa, the company’s chief executive officer, and internet advertising firm CyberAgent Inc. Still, going public may help the company boost its profile among clients, jobseekers and investors.

“We want to offer our service to broader industries such as hotel, nursing care, childcare, and manufacturing,” Ogawa said in an interview on Tuesday. “We’ll aggressively accelerate investment as we gain credibility and a sense of security as a public company,” he said, adding that future mergers and acquisitions are possible.

Most of the startup’s client companies are in the logistics, catering and retail industries, Ogawa said. While spot work is still a new concept, Timee has already drawn competitors, with Mercari Inc. launching a similar service in March and Indeed owner Recruit Holdings Co. planning its own offering for later this year.

Clarence Chu, an analyst at Aequitas Research Pvt, says Timee “appears to be a leader in a yet untapped and underpenetrated space.” The company’s stock “could likely end up trading at a premium to its entire peer set,” he wrote in a note on Smartkarma, adding that “over its relatively short operational history, Timee’s growth has been exponential.”

“Timee is such an early entrant that such workers have come to be known as a ‘Timee-san’, similar to how ‘Googling’ came to refer to a specific activity,” Jefferies analyst Ken Oiwa wrote in a report, starting coverage with a buy rating. “Timee has gathered much more data than its competitors, a huge differentiating factor.”

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