Demand for shares from Airtasker Limited (ASX: ART) staff during its initial public offering (IPO) ended up 10 times what the company offered.
Company chair James Spenceley made the admission during a chat with The Motley Fool.
"We set aside a figure for [shares to] internal staff, and it ended up being 10x that number," he said.
"We're talking north of $1 million from internal staff. That blew me away."
The gig economy platform is floating on the ASX on Monday after an IPO that sold its shares at 65 cents.
The market seems to be rotating away from high-growth technology shares, just as Airtasker is about to list. The S&P ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has dropped almost 14% since its recent peak on 10 February.
Spenceley, who was also the founder of Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC), told The Motley Fool he was not worried about temporary market movements.
"Quality businesses are still doing well. The ones that have a lot of hot air in them are moving around quite a bit," he said.
"We're pretty confident. Both [chief executive] Tim and myself, we're here for the long run. I've seen the power of this business."
Image source: Getty Images
Labour market concerns for Airtasker?
Gig economy platforms have been under the spotlight in recent times for their relationship with the people who provide the service.
Those businesses have maintained them as independent contractors in order to avoid the overheads involved if they were counted as employees.
But the shortcomings of that model have attracted critics, who say many workers are underpaid and lack physical, legal and financial protections.
Just this week, a UK court ruling forced Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) to reclassify 70,000 vehicle drivers as workers. This entitles them to benefits such as holidays and a minimum wage.
Potential labour regulations were not a concern for Airtasker, according to Spenceley, as its business model was different to transport and food delivery providers.
"[Other platforms] are incentivised to squeeze the person doing the work as much as possible so they make more money," he said.
"We have the reverse – we only get paid when the task gets completed, and we only get paid a percentage of the task. There's an incentive for us to have our taskers earn more money."
Airtasker chief executive Tim Fung told The Motley Fool that in his discussions with unions and the government, everyone's goals seemed to be aligned.
"We want the exact same things. We want to create high-quality work for Australians. And we want to have a positive impact on the future of work."
Expansion and customer development
While the 6-month focus after the ASX listing will be amplifying the marketing within Australia, Fung is keen to grow internationally in the long run.
"We've launched a marketplace in the UK. And we've recently opened up markets in Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland and the US."
The Motley Fool has previously reported Airtasker is increasing its average value per task.
The average dollar value in the early days almost 10 years ago was $97 per task. That had gone up to $159 for the 2020 financial year, while $189 is forecast by the end of the current year.
Fung attributed this to some taskers having built up tremendous trust and respect through performing thousands of tasks over the years.
"Customers are demanding more sophisticated and complex work through Airtasker," he said.
"We're starting to see people come to Airtasker and say, 'I need someone to do tax advice for me. I need a lawyer to write up an agreement for me. I need an architect to design a home for me.'"
Airtasker shares will start general trade on the ASX on Monday with a market capitalisation of $255.4 million.
The company made a $5.2 million pro forma net loss after tax last financial year. It forecasts a loss of $6.2 million for the year in progress.
