Initial public offering of former AFL player’s IT company closes early ‘due to demand’
Former Melbourne Demons AFL player Joel Macdonald’s delivery and tracking software firm, GetSwift, is listed and had debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
GetSwift, which trades under the ticker code GSW, had its $5 million initial public offering (IPO) of shares at 20 cent each oversubscribed and the sale period was ended early, the company says.
By midday, it was trading at 27.5 cents.
Transport and logistics IT firms have proved popular, whether listed or not, and though presently more modest than internationally focused software firm WiseTech, which listed earlier this year, is bound to be viewed by market as a point of comparison.
“The level of demand we have seen for the IPO is reflective of what we have already achieved as a business as well as a recognition of the potential of our solution, which has the ability to transform urban logistics,” Macdonald says.
“The successful capital raising and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange provides the platform to progress our strategy and continue to expand our operations as we solve the last-mile delivery problem for companies across the globe.”
Cygnet Capital led the IPO and “the fundraising received strong support from leading domestic and international institutional investors including Regal Emerging Companies Fund”, GetSwift says.
“The funds raised under the IPO will be used to fulfil the demand for the service as well as expand the scale of GetSwift’s existing operations globally.”
It has pledged to spend $1.65 million on sales and marketing, $1.5 million on research and development, $1.3 million on general and administrative costs and $550,000 on the
When Macdonald spoke to ATN 12 months ago, the firm then known as Swift had already branched out into the US.
“America has an appetite for this where they want to move quickly and they don’t want to spend a year or two years building the software, they want to partner with people who have experience in this field so they can focus on growing their business,” he said at the time.
“We’re coming across companies in the US from a scale perspective that I’ve never heard from but are doing more volumes than most big guys here in Australia, so the market opportunity is huge over there.”
Now it reports doing business in “over 300 cities in more than 50 countries and more than 30 industry verticals, including courier & messenger, food and beverage distribution services, restaurant deliveries, removal services, groceries companies, florist delivery groups, parcel services companies and more”.
The customer base it notes includes JustEat, drinks giant Lion, QSRH, Mitre10 and Little Caesars Pizza.
The company has assembled what appears a strong management and board line-up, including former Qantas and CIMIC chief information officer Jamila Gordon as a non-executive director.