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Yalla is a voice-centric social network for the MENA region that IPO& #39;d this week at a $1.3b valuation
Their two apps had a combined 12.5m MAUs in Q2 & #39;20 using them 4.5 & 2.5 hours per day. It did $53m in revenue thru June 2020 on operating margins of 48%
http://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=115247401&type=PDF&symbol=YALA">https://app.quotemedia.com/data/down...
Their two apps had a combined 12.5m MAUs in Q2 & #39;20 using them 4.5 & 2.5 hours per day. It did $53m in revenue thru June 2020 on operating margins of 48%
http://app.quotemedia.com/data/downloadFiling?webmasterId=101533&ref=115247401&type=PDF&symbol=YALA">https://app.quotemedia.com/data/down...
The initial app Yalla has a UI that& #39;s voice-first and revolves around voice group chats. Its described as "bringing offline user behaviors online".
It includes things like photo uploads, a friend feed, online / offline events and messaging. This likely increases the stickiness.
It includes things like photo uploads, a friend feed, online / offline events and messaging. This likely increases the stickiness.
In their F-1 filing, they put lot of emphasis on the initial on-boarding. They recommend rooms on the first-open, and then it gathers their interests based on usage and slowly improves those recommendations over time.
Here& #39;s how Yalla thinks about their whole ecosystem:
It& #39;s clear that despite the initial voice-first chat product, its vision is an all-encompassing social media, messaging, and entertainment ecosystem. And it has 48% operating margins on only $63m of revenue through Q2 of 2020.
It& #39;s clear that despite the initial voice-first chat product, its vision is an all-encompassing social media, messaging, and entertainment ecosystem. And it has 48% operating margins on only $63m of revenue through Q2 of 2020.
Yalla is majority owned by Chinese founders who were formerly ZTE Dubai executives. I& #39;d assume ongoing geopolitical risks here. Big early investors appear to be SIG (ByteDance, Citrip) and Orchid Asia.
It has 274 employees, leveraging low cost labor in China for R&D + marketing.
It has 274 employees, leveraging low cost labor in China for R&D + marketing.
Yalla monetizes via virtual in-app upgrades, VIP treatment in rooms, and sending gifts (there& #39;s a leaderboard for who has given and received the most)
Its working: Before seeing explosive growth in free users during COVID, ARPU was $12/mo - similar to FB& #39;s monetization in the US
Its working: Before seeing explosive growth in free users during COVID, ARPU was $12/mo - similar to FB& #39;s monetization in the US
Its second product, Yalla Ludo, saw even faster growth during COVID - almost 10x& #39;ing MAU& #39;s from 865k to 7.6m by June 2020. 407m games were played in Q2.
It& #39;s still early, but despite the higher engagement, monetization on Ludo significantly lags its other voice-centric product.
It& #39;s still early, but despite the higher engagement, monetization on Ludo significantly lags its other voice-centric product.
What I& #39;m most concerned about is usage and long-term stickiness.
The filing mentions how active MENA social users are - but has no mention of Yalla& #39;s DAU& #39;s. It also mentions 68.6m registered users. With 12.5m MAU& #39;s in Q2 2020, its ~18% long-term retention has room to improve.
The filing mentions how active MENA social users are - but has no mention of Yalla& #39;s DAU& #39;s. It also mentions 68.6m registered users. With 12.5m MAU& #39;s in Q2 2020, its ~18% long-term retention has room to improve.
Another concerning disclosure was highlighting usage stats over a six-month period (not just Q2 like everything else in the filing). To me, it indicates a decline in usage post-quarantine.
Not to mention... perfect time to go public if you don& #39;t want to report your Q3 metrics
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Not to mention... perfect time to go public if you don& #39;t want to report your Q3 metrics
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Still - despite likely slowing, Yalla put up 48% operating margins on $53m in revenue through Q2 (up 99% YoY)
At a $1.3b valuation, the public market is valuing Yalla at $104 per MAU. Assuming DAU/MAU is roughly 30%, that ballparks it at $347 per DAU and 20.5x its 2019 revenue.
At a $1.3b valuation, the public market is valuing Yalla at $104 per MAU. Assuming DAU/MAU is roughly 30%, that ballparks it at $347 per DAU and 20.5x its 2019 revenue.
