Wild Acre Metals : Business News article

businessnews.com.au | August 31-September 6, 2015

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Justin Miller Co-founder Nuheara

Photo: Attila Csaszar

businessnews.com.au | August 31, 2015 | 9

FE ATURE

Tuning in

• 30 WA-related backdoor listings completed in past two years.

• Investors looking for new growth opportunities.

• WA tech businesses have been major beneficiaries, such as iWebGate, Spookfish, Cirrus Networks, Norwood Systems, rent.com.au.

• International businesses also raising capital through ASX, such as 1-Page (Silicon Valley), migme (Singapore), NewZulu (Paris), Tomizone (Auckland).

• Nuheara set to join the trend.

HUNGRY FOR MORE: Justin Miller says the current appetite for risk capital provides an opportunity for tech companies. Photo: Attila Csaszar

Two years on, the surge in ASX backdoor

listings shows little sign of slowing, helping innovative technology businesses in Perth, interstate and overseas to raise capital.

Resources, as the best way to raise capital last year.
Early investors were able to buy shares at 16 cents (post consolida- tion), as part of a $400,000 capital raising, managed by broking firm DJ Carmichael.
1-Page subsequently raised $8.5 million at 20 cents a share.
Those shares are now trading
Gold, and since then has delivered strong returns for investors, with its shares rising five-fold to just above $1.
Investors in Subiaco-based ZipTel have enjoyed similar gains as the company develops new mobile calling apps.
The keen investor support for
these companies means they have

7-PAGE FEATURE

Mark Beyer

mark.beyer@businessnews.com.au
USTIN Miller is a tech entrepreneur whose expe- rience provides a telling insight into the changing
state of the capital markets.
In 2006, when he established Sensear, the mining boom was in full flight and the prospect of listing a tech startup on the stock market was virtually non-existent. Instead, Mr Miller tapped private investors, moved to Silicon Valley and oversaw a period of rapid
but this time his plans are very different.
"I got back and everyone was asking how Perth could become the next Silicon Valley," Mr Miller told Business News.
"I, for one, am saying we shouldn't, the valley evolved in its own way.
"The interesting thing for me is the opportunity that came from the slowdown in the mining sector. "The risk capital here is looking for a place and it's not going to junior explorers any more; you're seeing it with technology coming
into mining shells.
"I'm not going to try and fight
It is aiming to join about 30 other technology companies that have completed RTOs, or backdoor list- ings, on to the ASX over the past two years, with a similar number in progress.

High flyers

Among all these deals, the most outstanding success story, at least in terms of investor returns, has been software company 1-Page (see graph, page 11).
Interestingly, 1-Page is based in Silicon Valley but chose an RTO, through Perth company InterMet
around $3.40, valuing the company at more than $250 million.
Another big success has been migme, which was established by Perth-raised chief executive Stephen Goh in Australia but moved to Sili- con Valley after raising funds from US-based venture capital investors.
Lack of success in the US prompted migme to shift to Sin- gapore, where it is developing social networking apps and other digital media products for Asian markets.
The company listed on the ASX
last year through an RTO of Latin
been able to go back to the market for secondary capital raisings.
That's a critical success factor for businesses developing new products and penetrating new markets, all at substantial cost.

Opportunities

The geographic diversity of these companies is reflective of the 30 or so tech businesses that have competed RTOs over the past two years.
NewZulu, for instance, is run from Paris, iSignThis is based in Melbourne, Tomizone is from Auckland, while Covata is run from
Melbourne but is currently setting
growth, before stepping down from Sensear and moving back to Perth with his young family.
Mr Miller and his Silicon Valley- based business partner, David Cannington, have since established another tech startup in the rap- idly emerging 'wearables' sector;
that; there is an appetite for risk capital at that level and it provides an opportunity for technology companies to enter the market."
Mr Miller's company, Nuheara, is planning to raise $3.5 million as part of a reverse takeover (RTO) of cash- strapped explorer Wild Acre Metals.

The risk capital here is looking for a place and it's not going to junior explorers any more; you're seeing it with technology coming into mining shells - Justin Miller

up in Silicon Valley.
The surge in RTOs has also been great news for tech entrepreneurs in Perth, with iWebGate, Spook- fish, Cirrus Networks, Norwood Systems and rent.com.au just some

Continued on page 11

August 31, 2015 | 11

FEATURE

INNOVATION

Tech fills mining vacuum

From page 9

HIGH-FLYERS

Share prices

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3 -

Not only will we get it there on time, we also specialise in products that will save you on construction time.

$ 2 -

Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug

2014 2015

Source: ASX

of the local businesses to complete listings on the ASX.
The ability of Perth entrepreneurs to har- ness the capital markets in unlikely ways is illustrated by the example of Peppermint Innovation.
Led by chief executive Chris Kain, Pepper- mint is commercialising a mobile payments technology in the Philippines.
A US-listed company developed the prod- uct in the early stages, with $US9.5 million invested over four years.
It's now the property of Peppermint, which has appointed DJ Carmichael to raise
$3.5 million ahead of a backdoor listing through Chrysalis Resources.
DJ Carmichael's head of corporate finance, David Bosio, said while the tech sector was challenging, there was still plenty of interest. "I think it's become a lot more discerning
now," Mr Bosio said.
"There have been some deals that haven't got away, lots of supplementary prospec- tuses are going out, and people are asking more questions about how the money will be used."

Wearables market

It seems those 'discerning' investors have been quick to recognise opportunities in cutting-edge products such as those being developed for the wearable technology, or wearables, market.
It's in this market, led by Fitbit activity trackers and the Apple watch, that Nuheara is pursuing opportunities.
"The wearables space has exploded in the past 12 months," Mr Miller told Business News. "We're at the start of the wave, that makes
it exciting."
Nuheara's lead product is a type of 'ear bud', which will work in tandem with its smartphone app to enable wearers to control what they want to hear.
"Effectively you're putting a computer on each ear.
"It providers a user with the ability to take phone calls, listen to music, boost hearing when you need to, like in a cafe, and allow the user to maintain control of what they hear." Mr Miller cites the examples of someone
at a football game, who would be able to block out background crowd noise while tuning into the radio commentary or receiv- ing phone calls.
Nuheara's $3.5 million capital raising is designed to take it to commercial production of the 'ear bud' by the end of 2016.

Its business plan also involves funding post- doctoral research at Curtin University, which the company can utilise in future products.

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