Startive Ventures-backed Freelancer targets small-cap IPO
Online jobs marketplace Freelancer.com has filed for its initial public offering on the Australian Securities Exchange with a view to raising A$15 million ($14.43 million). Startive Ventures owns 42% of Freelancer, chief executive Matt Barrie has 50% while unnamed investors hold the rest.
According to the prospectus, Freelancer is offering 30 million new shares to the public at A$0.50 per share. The IPO values the company at A$218 million. Post offer Startive's holding will be diluted to 38.5%
Freelancer claims to be the world's largest freelancing, outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace by number of users and projects. It has over 9 million users and with over 5 million projects posted in areas such as software development, writing, data entry, design, accounting and legal services. Apart from paid membership plans, Freelancer charges about 3% or $3, whichever is greater, from employers and 3-10% from freelancers for every project hiring done via the website.
It had revenues of A$10.6 million in 2012, with gross margins of 88% and forecasts 2013 revenue to rise to A$18.3 million, with consolidated net profit after tax expected to be A$471,000, a 35% decrease from A$728,000 in 2012.
The business was founded in 2009, and has used its acquisitions of GetAFreelancer, Canada's Scriptlance, EUFreelance, LimeExchange and RentaCoder/vWorker to drive growth.
Funds raised through the IPO will be used to fund working capital requirements for the existing business and current organic growth opportunities. Earlier this year the firm turned down investor interest in acquiring minority stakes and Japanese recruitment firm Recruit Holdings $400 million offer to buy the company.
Freelancer CEO Barrie has previously criticized the lack of funding for companies looking to raise A$1 -5 million. He hopes the listing could be a template for other tech start-ups that want to raise funds in Australia instead of going overseas.
Australian VC firms have received little interest for the asset class from domestic LPs. Blackbird Ventures's A$30 million internet-focused venture capital fund raised most of its capital from a cluster of Silicon Valley- and Australia-based super angels.
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