Aussie taxi startup ingogo raises AU$3.4m, signals 2014 IPO
Australian startup ingogo has picked up an additional AU$3.4 million in venture capital funding, and plans to list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) next year.
The company started out with the same business model as many of the taxi services apps currently in the marketplace, but now bills itself additionally as a mobile payment provider after it began to focus on its in-vehicle payment platform.
The additional AU$3.4 million, sourced from investors such as the UBS Australian Small Companies Fund, the Wilbow Group, and private investors in Asia and the US, now takes ingogo's total capital to AU$7.1 million. According to the company, it is also now valued at over AU$25 million.
The company's founder and managing director Hamish Petrie said that the latest funding round would likely be the last needed for ingogo to achieve positive operating cash flow.
The money will be used to further expand its payment platform across Australia and reach out beyond the taxi app industry. It will also see the company more than double the size of its team to 25 staff next year as it seeks to internationally licence its app.
If all goes well, next year will also signal the listing of the company on the ASX. Another Aussie startup, Freelancer, only recently listed on the ASX, tripling investor expectations and surprising some by choosing to list on a local exchange rather than a US one.
Petrie told ZDNet in a statement that he is taking a similar approach to Freelancer, and prefers to see the benefits of the technology and its dividends remain in Australia first rather than seeing them go offshore.
"The company is proudly Australian, and I am a big advocater of contributing to the startup ecosystem in Australia."