Latest / What the Flux / $105 million capital raise for construction-tech | Sequioa buys its own stock | Budget mobile wins against telco giants

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$105 million capital raise for construction-tech | Sequioa buys its own stock | Budget mobile wins against telco giants · What the Flux

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is Locker Flucks.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: I'm Brett and I'm Justin and it's Wednesday, the seventeenth
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: of July.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Jazie Boy. A private Australian company you've probably never heard of,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Easygo Solutions, has made more than five hundred million dollars
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: in profits in just three years. Well the name might
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: not sound familiar. It's the company behind online gaming casino
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: steak dot com and Kick streaming service. And while we
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: not a bad result for the two owners aged under thirty,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: not bad at all, pluck them.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: We have a very exciting new feature that we're rolling
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: out in the app this Thursday. Is still very much
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: in Beat app, but it's very close to my heart.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Now for any of you flucks apbsolutes out there, here's
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: a little challenge. Let me know if you see the
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: new feature in the app and flick us a message
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and we will send you some flucks merch.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Three marvelous stories today, Josie Boy, let's do it for
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  Speaker 1: our first a construction tech company in Australia, has raised
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and five million dollars as it looks to
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  Speaker 1: expand into the US and also Europe. If you don't mind,
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  Speaker 1: and here I was thinking.
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  Speaker 2: These hundred baggers were only done in twenty twenty.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: One, so don't we wore well, Juzzy boy. The name
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  Speaker 1: of the company is hammet Tech and was founded in
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  Speaker 1: Melbourne in twenty thirteen, and be man.
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  Speaker 2: While it does a host of things for the construction industry,
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  Speaker 2: it's digital platform mainly focuses on the fun stuff you'd
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: be talking about safety compliance site operation processes like onboarding
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: and safety inspections and incident reporting. Gee, you're getting me
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  Speaker 2: revved up and excited, juzzy boy, But be man, this
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  Speaker 2: is critical in the construction industry.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, Hamtech is now used by over five hundred
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  Speaker 1: construction companies around the world on over twenty thousand projects.
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  Speaker 2: And back in twenty nineteen, Hamitech raised ten million bucks.
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  Speaker 2: But they put their hand back in the cookie jar
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  Speaker 2: once again.
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  Speaker 1: And this time the hand has gone deep in that
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  Speaker 1: cookie jar.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're talking one hundred and five million dollars raised
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  Speaker 2: from a US based private equity firm called Riverwood Capital.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting, So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 2: While flashy tech startups often grab headlines, it's the less
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  Speaker 2: glamorous sector that often create the most lucrative opportunities. Industries
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: focused on compliance and safety and regulations.
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  Speaker 1: They might not spark immediate excitement, but they are essential
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  Speaker 1: for highly regulated industries.
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  Speaker 2: Think construction, think manufacturing.
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  Speaker 1: And digitizing These platforms saves time but also, juzzy boy,
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  Speaker 1: also it reduces errors.
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  Speaker 2: All the dreaded risk of legal issues and penalties too.
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  Speaker 1: And Josey Boy. Hamitech isn't the first Australian tech company
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  Speaker 1: to do well from a traditionally un sexy industry.
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  Speaker 2: Ohner remember safety Culture worth a called two point seven
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  Speaker 2: billion dollars at its latest valuation in August twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 1: Three, And juzzy boy. With this wopp ar raise, Hamertech
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  Speaker 1: is hoping they can bring their sexy technology to the
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  Speaker 1: US and Europe as well. For our second story, one
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: of the major investors in Stripe, Sequoya Capital, is offering
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  Speaker 1: to buy shares from its earliest investors at a seventy
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  Speaker 1: billion US dollar valuation. Sequoya buying shares from Sequoya. Interesting move, Sequoya,
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  Speaker 1: so tell me more, juzzy boy.
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  Speaker 2: So Stripe is the fintech company started back in twenty
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  Speaker 2: ten as a payments processing platform.
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  Speaker 1: Also doesn't sound so sexy, but their goal was to
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: take on the likes of Visa and MasterCard for all digital.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Payments, and since then, Stripe's partnered with major e commerce
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  Speaker 2: channels like Shopify as well as Amazon, and it hurts
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Give this little one. Stripe is believed to have processed
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: more than one trillion US dollars through its platform in
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, or a lazy one percent of global GDP.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: But does boy, It's taken time and a lot of
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: money from investors. In fact, Strippers raised more than eight
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  Speaker 1: point seven billion US dollars and its.
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  Speaker 2: Valuation hitter whopping ninety five bill US in twenty twenty one.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Then, though it did drop to fifty bill very humble
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: And now Socoe Capital, one of Stripe's earliest investors, is
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: looking to buy up to eight hundred and sixty one
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: million US dollars worth of Stripe shares.
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  Speaker 1: At a valuation of seventy billion usd But.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Here's the interesting part, Baman, because it's looking to buy
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: the shares from its investors who invested in its own
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  Speaker 2: fun between two thousand and nine and twenty twelve.
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  Speaker 1: And this is a way for Stripe's earlier investors to
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  Speaker 1: get some liquidity on their investments from more than twelve
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  Speaker 1: years ago. So what is the key learning here? Venture
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: capital firms are creating new ways for older investors to
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  Speaker 1: liquidate their shares. You see a man.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: When investors or limited partners invest in a venture capital fund,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: they expect to see returns on their investment.
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  Speaker 1: Generally in a five to seven year timespan.
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  Speaker 2: The idea is that a VC raises money, invest that
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  Speaker 2: money into startups, and the company sells out via an
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  Speaker 2: IPO or a strategic sale.
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  Speaker 1: Be does. The challenge for Stripe is that there aren't
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  Speaker 1: many other competitors that can afford to actually acquire them
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  Speaker 1: for seventy billion US dollars, and Stripes founders have said
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: they prefer to keep Stripe as a private company indefinitely.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: So as companies like Stripe extend their time in the
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  Speaker 1: private markets, it makes it harder for these earlier investors
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  Speaker 1: to realize their investment returns.
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  Speaker 2: Get this, thirty seven percent of unicorns are being held
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  Speaker 2: for at least nine years by VC funds.
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  Speaker 1: That's according to Pitchbook, so be Man. It kind of
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  Speaker 1: blows up the whole venture capital model. So Josie Waite
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  Speaker 1: Sequoia is creating new ways for these old investors to
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  Speaker 1: liquidate their shares in older investments. For our third and
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  Speaker 1: final story, budget mobile brands I seen double digit growth
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  Speaker 1: in subscribers after the latest price increases from telco giants,
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  Speaker 1: Telstra and Optists. Not what the big dogs want to
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  Speaker 1: hear right now, be man, so what is happening? Well, Josey. Wait.
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  Speaker 1: Last week on the Pod we did discuss Telstra jacking
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  Speaker 1: up its prices on mobile phone plans by more than
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: the inflation rate.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: And voterphone Optics have also increased their prices this year
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  Speaker 2: for new customers as well. But now, be man, Well,
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  Speaker 2: these telco giants have been upping their prices. The budget
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  Speaker 2: mobile providers are seizing on this opportunity to undercut them.
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  Speaker 1: And low and behold, it is working. Get this. Budget
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: mobile brands Felix, Labarra and Cogan operated by TPG have
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: recorded a twelve point six percent increase in subscriber group.
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  Speaker 2: And b Man, these budget brands now count for over
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  Speaker 2: half of TPG's new customers thanks to their lower prices and.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Jogieboit it sure helps that digital first mobile phone plan
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  Speaker 1: providers like Felix don't have to build their own infrastructure.
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  Speaker 1: So what is the key learning here to beat business
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  Speaker 1: giants at their own game, borrow their infrastructure and undercut
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  Speaker 1: their prices.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: You see mobile phone providers like Felix, Labara Hogan they've
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: been able to entice new customers with much lower prices.
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  Speaker 1: And it's because upstart telco providers do not build their
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  Speaker 1: own infrastructure. They just leverage existing infrastructure so they can
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: offer lower prices and pull market share from the incumbents.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: And Jessie Boy, we've seen a digital first approach give
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: incumbents a run for their money. In the fintech industry
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  Speaker 1: for example as well.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Yep, we've seen some nearbanks fail, but others like Upbank
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: and Wise and Revolute are exclusively online.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: And they partner with traditional banks for bank infrastructure like
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: funding and compliance.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: FLUXAMM there is a very exciting new feature big released
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: in the Flux app this Thursday, and it is very
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: close to my heart and will be close to yours, I'm.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Sure of it.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: The challenge for you is have a scan through the
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: Flux app see if you can find the new feature
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: and look us a message and if you can, we'll
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: send you some Flux merched.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Friday.