Former Smart50 finalist Inabox has finally listed on the Australian Securities Exchange this morning, after months of preparation.
The milestone follows an announcement from telecommunications giant M2 earlier this month, which pledged $2 million for a minority stake in the company. Earlier this year, Inabox also changed its name from “Telcoinabox” and announced its intention to go public.
The shares have performed well this morning, listing at $1.20 and rising to $1.31 by 11.10 AEST.
The biggest benefactors from the listing have been institutional investors and M2, while the largest individual shareholder, general manager Michael Clarke, now holds a stake worth over $1 million.
Founder and managing director Damian Kay told SmartCompany this morning he’s feeling good about the move, but says the business is entering a difficult period of heightened attention – which will take some time to get used to.
“Any mistake we make now is visible, and that definitely fills me with a little bit of anxiety,” he says.
“But we’re very confident about what we do, and we’ve been doing this for 10 years now.”
By all accounts, the IPO has been a success for the business, with its initial offer oversubscribed – the business raised $3.5 million, the maximum under its offer.
Kay founded the business in 2003, financed by credit cards. The company’s first strategy was to offer franchised telecommunications businesses, sold to ‘mum and dad’ investors who could come up with their own pricing models.
However, the business has since grown. It acquired wholesale aggregator and VoIP provider iVox earlier this year, with the company now operating mainly as a wholesale aggregation service for voice, mobile data and other telecommunications services.
The company’s financials are strong, too – revenue was $22.6 million for the first half of the 2013 year, with profits expected to top $1 million this year.
For now, though, Kay says the biggest priority is just making sure the business performs well on a consistent basis – especially now it is in the public eye.
“This isn’t about worrying about the share price. It’s about driving earnings through a good balanced strategy. We’re very confident.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
