Voice-centric social networking and entertainment company Yalla Group Ltd., which splits its operations between the United Arab Emirates and China, has submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), becoming the latest firm to join the U.S. listing spree by Chinese tech startups.

According to its prospectus released on Tuesday, four-year-old Yalla will use the proceeds from the planned initial public offering (IPO) for marketing activities, technology infrastructure construction, working capital purposes and potential acquisitions. The startup, which provides services including group voice chat and inbuilt app games, counts the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as its primary market.

According to the prospectus, Yalla makes money mainly from sales of virtual items like virtual gifts and upgrade services such as VIP rights and premium membership on its platform. The company said that it was the largest voice chat app in the MENA region as measured by revenue last year, citing a report by Frost & Sullivan.

In the first half of 2020, Yalla reported net profits of $25.2 million on revenues of $52.8 million, the company said. During the same period last year, the two figures were $11.4 million and $26.4 million respectively.

In the second quarter of 2020, some 12.5 million active users visited its platform on average each month, spending a total of 309.5 million hours in its live voice chat rooms, or Yalla rooms, and playing a total of 407.2 million rounds of casual games on Yalla Ludo. During the period, the number of paying users reached 5.4 million, the company said.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

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