Analytics firm Appscatter could prove a big hit when it joins the stock market on 5 September if significant institutional demand to take part in its IPO fundraising is anything to go by.

The app distribution platform originally set out to raise £5m at its AIM listing but has now secured £9m due to better than expected interest from asset managers. Octopus and Legal & General are among the institutions backing the firm. The IPO price will be 65p and its EPIC code is APPS.

Appscatter lets companies distribute and monitor their apps across app stores around the world. The firm has been generating revenue since the start of 2017 and is expected to break even in the first half of 2018, according to chief executive Philip Marcella. He hopes to have 1m subscribers within three years.

The investment case is fairly easy to understand. Most people think apps are only made available via Apple iTunes or Google Play. In reality, this is not the case – particularly in places like China where they only account for 24% of downloads or 62% for the top five countries in the European Union, according to Appscatter.

What does it do?

Appscatter helps companies to reach a wide range of app stores as well as monitor what competitors are doing through these channels. Furthermore, it helps clients with a range of apps to ensure the right ones are being distributed in the correct countries for marketing or regulatory purposes.

The company will be valued at £41m when it floats on AIM. As of 31 July 2017, the company was generating revenue from more than 800 paying users. Clients include banks, gambling firms, aviation companies and automotive firms.

Marcella says the IPO valuation was based on a mixture of the company’s technology investment to date, revenue generating credentials and, in particular, its rich amount of data. It claims to have billions of data points on apps which it has been collecting since 2014.

The company says no other firm others its full suite of tools, although there are firms which offer some of them. It doesn’t have patent protection but is looking at applying for some to cover activities such as specific search algorithms and technology for collecting and managing data.

The IPO fundraising will provide Appscatter with £7.8m after fees. The money will be used for sales and marketing, launching a new marketplace and working capital. Marcella says the higher than expected cash raise will also enable the firm to bring forward some expansion plans.

It will open an office in Germany which it claims to be the second largest app developer country in Europe. It will also establish a presence in China, particularly with the aim of helping Chinese publishers to get their apps on stores in other countries.

‹ Previous2017-08-31Next ›