Mario Ho Yau-Kwan has become the youngest founder of a Nasdaq-listed company in Asia, now that the 29-year-old’s esports company NIP Group has started trading in the US. NIP is also the first US-listed Chinese company in the esports industry.
The firm raised a total of US$20.25 million from its offering of 2.25 million American depositary shares at US$9 per share, the South China Morning Post reported.
Ho, the youngest son of the late casino tycoon Stanley Ho, said going public in the US was “a dream come true” for him. He described NIP as “ready to leave a significant mark on the global gaming industry as a Nasdaq-listed company”.
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Cayman Islands-based NIP primarily operates through two wholly-owned subsidiaries: Ninjas in Pyjamas Gaming in Sweden and the Wuhan-based Xingjing Weiwu Culture & Sports, itself the owner of several esports teams and also involved in esports talent management and event production.
Ho is NIP’s co-founder, chairman and co-chief executive. After the initial public offering (IPO), he is also its largest individual shareholder – with a 13.6 percent stake.
Despite annual revenues of US$83.7 million last year, NIP’s net losses more than doubled to US$13.3 million last year. The company has put its lack of profits to date down to investing substantial sums into the business’ growth.
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CBJ Think Tank analyst Zhang Shule told the Post that while plenty of money was being splashed about in the esports industry, finding ways to generate more money could be challenging. “[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.
US-based consulting firm Frost & Sullivan has described NIP as “a leading esports organisation” with an expansive global footprint across Asia, Europe and South America. Frost & Sullivan also estimated that the market size of the global esports industry was expected to reach US$102.4 billion in 2027, up from US$57.9 billion in 2022.
Ho’s billionaire businessman father, Stanley Ho, founded SJM Holdings and held a monopoly on gaming in Macao for 40 years. The elder Ho fathered 17 children, including Melco CEO and chairman Lawrence Ho, MGM China’s chairperson and executive director Pansy Ho and SJM Holdings managing director Daisy Ho.
