Airtasker (ASX:ART) CEO Tim Fung told Stockhead it was a positive to now be an ASX-listed company but that he paid little attention to its debut price.

Yesterday his company, a platform for tasks and considered an Australian tech icon, listed on the Australian bourse.

Shares closed at $1.05 – a premium of 60 per cent above the 65 cent IPO price the company raised capital at.
 

Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price chart

 

Speaking with Stockhead yesterday Fung said he was that focused on the long term, he wouldn’t even let his staff dwell on the first day performance.

“I’ve been asking my staff not to look at the screens and when I see people opening their mobiles up to look at the stock price I cover it with my hand,” he said.

“From my perspective I saw it had a good start which is fantastic but really we’re here for a 5-10 year journey and we’re focused on that long term perspective.”

 

What now for Airtasker?

So just what can shareholders expect in the long run? Fung said Airtasker has two main areas to focus on going forward.

“One, we just launched a new product called Airtasker Listings which allows our taskers and service providers  to package up with their services and offer them on the shelves [of the] Airtasker Store,” he said.

“And that’s opening up new service categories for us – Airtasker started as an app for cleaning and gardening but people can buy experiences and lessons.

“If you wanted a drag queen to come over to your party and entertain your guests, you can buy that on Airtasker now.”

Secondly, Fung mentioned he was keen to continue the international expansion drive.

“Airtasker has launched into the UK – we have an incredible vibrant and resilient market place in London,” he said.

“We’ve opened up marketplaces in Ireland, NZ, Singapore and shortly in the United States. So, [we’re] really excited about taking Airtasker and filling that blue ocean opportunity up.”

 

Why list on the ASX?

While Australian tech icon Atlassian chose to list in the US straight away, Fung said it made sense for Airtasker to choose the Australian bourse.

“One of the things that was important to us is a number of our employees and taskers could have an opportunity to own a part of Airtasker,” he said.

“As part of this IPO we had incredible response – 10x oversubscribed from our employees and our tasker base – and that was really important for us to create that opportunity.

“Given we’re an Australian company, born in Australia and proud of Australia, we wanted to list here too.

Fung also said he hopes he would inspire the Aussie tech sector to grow and improve.

“Absolutely, I’d really love to see entrepreneurs come to list on the ASX, be able to create that second generation of entrepreneurs and hopefully that can help to make the Australian tech scene really kick butt on a global stage.”

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