Razer’s not your average startup. For one thing, there’s the fact that the company has roots dating back to 1998, making it enough to vote or buy a lottery ticket here in the US (except in Nebraska, Louisiana and Iowa, apparently).
Also, the company has devoted a good number of its resources toward funding and supporting other startups through ventures like OSVR and Razer zVentures, a $30 million fund for VR and robotics companies that CEO and founder Min-Liang Tan announced today on stage at Disrupt San Francisco.
All these years after Tan and Robert Krakoff joined forces to launch an early version of the gaming mouse, Razer is still private – but not for a lack of interest. The executive explained that the company has been looking toward taking the next key step. “We’ve considered going public for some time,” he explained.
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“But the key for us is we want to make sure we’re ready to go public,” Tan added. “There’s no reason for us to stay private. But we want to make sure all the corporate governance is address. We want to make sure we’ve crossed the Ts and dotted the Is on pretty much everything.”
As for a time for such an important shift. We’ll that’s a lot less clear. “It will be ready when it’s ready,” Tan explained with a laugh.
He added that the company isn’t as focused in financial investments in its own offerings. “I think our core business is very profitable,” Tan added. “But we’ve got some very exciting initiatives that we’re going to double down on.”