Funding Details: Airtasker, the marketplace for job outsourcing, has completed one of the largest start-up fundraising rounds of the year in Australia, raising $ 22 million in a round led by Seven West Media (ASX: SWM). The company proffering a platform wherein people are paid for odd jobs and professional assignments raised $ 6.5 million in its last round of funding in May 2015. The company has raised $ 32 million since its establishment in 2012. On a similar track, market saw the Vinomofo company, which sells wine online, raising $ 25 million in investment through support from Blue Sky Venture in April 2016.
Tasks that can be done (Source - Airtasker)
Vision of the players through the investment deal:What has caused considerable interest is the investment decision by Seven West Media, which will now own 15% in the company. Mr Tim Fung (former Macquarie Group analyst and the chief executive of Airtasker) said that the additional funding was required to support the hiring of more staff to develop technology and to increase the marketing thrust. The company intends to become a household icon in Australia and believes that the multiple media channels of Seven West Media will help support the expansion plan. Airtasker sees that mainstream Australian consumer brand building requires reach among a larger target audience, who could be potential product users. The companies have been in discussions since the middle of 2015, when Seven West reached out Airtasker. Seven West is thus expected to provide media support with investment injection to drive Airtasker’s growth.
Seven West already has more than 10 companies in its portfolio with a 50% stake in Yahoo!7 and a joint venture with Foxtel for Presto, which is a TV streaming service. The company CEO Tim Warner said that SWM was following a strategy of early-stage business investment in businesses which could help in growing its own media properties. He added that he believed that Airtasker was looking at a significant market opportunity in the future. The companies have been already collaborating on the Seven West internal branded content RED engine TV on growth opportunities. This company can contribute a lot to the growth of Airtasker because it is looking for viable disruptive businesses.Airtasker is yet to break-even but has reported to have doubled its number of users from 200,000 in May 2015 to more than 600,000; and transaction volumes have grown more than five-fold year-on-year to figure in excess of $ 40 million annually. The company eyes for domestic growth while exploring overseas options has also been on the cards. The company is emphasising on the quality of the technology platform and has boosted efforts to develop the online marketplace. It has lot of expectations from the market listing in order to showcase its worth.
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