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Starbox Group Holdings Ltd., a Malaysia-based service provider of cash rebates, digital advertising, and payment solutions, raised $20 million in an initial public offering by selling 5 million shares for $4.00 each. The company began trading its stock on Tuesday morning under the ticker symbol “STBX” on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Starbox Group became Malaysia’s first U.S. IPO.

The company began trading its stock on Tuesday morning under the ticker symbol “STBX” on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Starbox Group became Malaysia’s first U.S. IPO (Starbox is the only Malaysia-based company currently listed on Nasdaq with foreign private issuer status). 

In honor of the occasion, some Malaysian officials attended the Nasdaq Bell Ringing Ceremony along with Starbox Group management teams. Those officials include Washington DC-based Charges d'affaires of Embassy of Malaysia, Mohd Rozali Fairuz Adli Bin; New York-based Consul of Consulate General of Malaysia, Omar Mohammed Iylia Bin; Washington DC-based Minister of Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia, Allias Aida Safinaz Binti, and other US-based Malaysian officials.

Headquartered in Malaysia, Starbox Group builds a cash rebate, digital advertising, and payment solution business ecosystem targeting micro, small, and medium enterprises that lack the bandwidth to develop an in-house data management system for effective marketing. The company connects retail merchants with retail shoppers to facilitate transactions through cash rebates offered by retail merchants on its GETBATS website and mobile app. The company provides digital advertising services to advertisers through its SEEBATS website and mobile app, GETBATS website and mobile app and social media. The company also provides payment solution services to merchants.

The SEC Form F-1 shows that Starbox’s total revenue increased significantly by $2.8 million, or approximately 2,352.9%, to $2.9 million for the six months ended March 31, 2022, from $0.12 million for the six months ended March 31, 2021. 

Starbox Group’s revenue comprises digital advertising, cash rebate, and payment solution services. However, revenue from digital advertising services accounted for most of it. According to its SEC files, revenue from digital advertising services accounted for approximately 99.63%, 99.75%, and 99.53% of the company’s total revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2022 and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Nevertheless, Starbox Group envisages to grow all three business, as the company believes all three businesses are complementary to each other, and equally important.

Based on an industry report by Frost & Sullivan Limited, cash rebates and coupons are expected to remain powerful incentives for retail shoppers to return and spend more on their favorite online stores. It is expected that the market size of the cash rebate and coupons industry in Southeast Asia would reach approximately $7.0 billion by 2026, representing a CAGR of approximately 23.1% from 2022 to 2026. 

In addition, the market size of the digital advertising industry in Southeast Asia is expected that the online business model will continue to be a growing trend, and the market size of the digital advertising industry in Southeast Asia will reach approximately $15.9 billion in 2026, representing a CAGR of approximately 9.3% from 2022 to 2026.

As such, Starbox Group plan to selectively launch its digital advertising and cash rebate services in other countries in Southeast Asia during the next three years, starting from markets such as the Philippines and Thailand between July 2022 and June 2023 and to further expand into Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, and other countries in Southeast Asia between July 2023 and June 2025.

Except for expanding the business into other countries in Southeast Asia, Starbox plans to upgrade its software and system and promote the company’s brands in Malaysia. Apparently, with a successful listing on NASDAQ, Starbox will be able to leverage more resources to deploy working capital to areas with higher potential to grow and expand its business.