Seven West Media invests in Airtasker as start-up, raises $22m
Australian task outsourcing business Airtasker has raised $22m in a new funding round, with Seven West Media signing on to be a cornerstone investor.
The four-year-old Sydney start-up has sold Seven West a 15% stake and agreed to media support and investment to help drive the growth of the platform, which allows users to post a job they need done with a suggested payment amount.
Seven West Media CEO and managing director, Tim Worner, said: “We are delighted to partner with and support the growth of Airtasker.
We continue to pursue opportunities to build our company through key strategic investments in new disruptive ventures which can scale rapidly with the benefit of the promotional power of our assets.
“Airtasker is an exciting investment for SWM and we will drive brand awareness and engagement for Airtasker via our massive audiences in a way that only Seven West can.”
Airtasker CEO, Tim Fung, said the capital would be invested in the brand’s technology and in raising consumer awareness.
“We’re helping Australian people and businesses get more done with their day,” he said. “Whilst we’ve seen rapid organic growth over the past year, we’re only scratching the surface of a multi-billion opportunity – we still have a huge way to grow in Australia alone.”
Airtasker has also taken on two new additions to its board of directors: James Spenceley founder and CEO, Vocus Communications, and Jenny Hosie sales director, Seven West Media.
The most recent funding round came after Airtasker raised $6.5m back in May 2015, with existing shareholders including NRMA, Morning Crest Capital and Exto Partners choosing to put more capital into the business.
In the past 12 months, the company doubled its total number of users from 250,000 to more than 600,000 community members and grown its annual revenue to $40m.
Airtasker has raised a total of $32 million in capital since founding in 2012.
I think this Airtasker thing will take off. Great concept and definitely the way the world is headed, considering the lack of work for odd jobs and handy-men.
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Airtasker is great and is but one option. Then there are the jobs and careers young people will create out of they own childhood passions and past times. Whether it’s Minecraft or duct tape wallets, childhood hobbies that seem like fads, sometimes even totally unproductive, can alternatively be seen as mediums for experiencing a cycle of curiosity: discovering, trying, failing, learning and growing. What about creating a way for kids to explore skills and to understand the ways in which they can be creative through them. It’s not important what the skills are. What’s important is that kids develop the muscle to be fearless learners so that they are never stuck with the skills they have. Only this will prepare them for a world where change is accelerating and depending on a single skill to provide a lifetime career is becoming impossible.
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