Sagoon, a social commerce platform founded by a non-resident Nepali in Washington, DC, announced amid a programme in Kathmandu on Thursday that it would be launching an online public offering to raise $20 million. 

According to Sagoon, it will be offering 869,564 shares at a base value of $23 each. Potential investors will have to buy a minimum 13 shares. There is no cap on the number of shares an individual can buy. 

Shares will be allotted to prospective buyers on a first come, first served basis; and they can subscribe for as many shares as they want. There is no deadline either. Once the allotted shares are sold, the website will automatically stop accepting applications. The US-based company, two of whose three promoters are Nepalis, acquired permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the US to make a public offering a week ago. 

Individuals from across the world can purchase Sagoon shares through its website www.sagoon.com/invest. After they register with the website, they will receive an email from the company which will lead them through the rest of the process. 

Even though Sagoon has made its shares available across the globe, people in Nepal won’t be able to buy them as local laws bar from making any kind of investment on foreign soil. 

“However, Nepalis living overseas who have a bank account can make investments,” said Ajay Babu Shiwakoti, Sagoon’s Nepal representative. “We believe that eligible investors, especially Nepalis, will buy shares in a company located in Silicon Valley.”  

The company has described the public offering as an opportunity that was not available during the early stages of other similar companies like Facebook and Twitter.

“This means there is a huge potential financial reward for every single investor,” the company said in a statement. 

Prior to this live offering, Sagoon ran a Testing the Water phase where it received more than $7 million in indicated interest from more than 4,000 potential investors in the US, Canada, India and the UK. 

The company has been getting positive feedback about its share offering and Nepalis residing in South Korea, Japan, Australia, the UK and the Middle East have been sending frequent queries regarding investment opportunities, Shiwakoti said.

Sagoon is a social commerce platform that offers everyone a chance to make money while socializing. The platform was originally launched as a search engine in 2009. In 2014, it was developed into a social commerce platform. According to Shiwakoti, the company is worth $93 million as of today. Currently, it has 450,000 users.