Article on AFR today:
http://www.copyright link/technolog...akor-group-to-list-on-the-asx-20170323-gv4wtx
Geospatial mapping technology company Takor Group is listing on the ASX to raise up to $8 million, as the company prepares to kick off an aggressive expansion into the US, Europe and Asia.
The company was founded in 2009 and was originally a tech consultancy, but it changed course a few years ago, with chief executive Amir Farhand saying he wanted to develop mapping technologies for the masses, rather than just large corporates.
Unlike other mapping technology companies, which are focused on either the creation of maps or the collection of data, Takor has created a platform with tools to let people collect, view and share their own location-based data.
Mr Farhand, who has a background in satellite imagery and considers Takor to be like "Google Earth on steroids", said in the next 12 to 24 months the company would also be building out more capabilities to target the drone and driverless car markets.
"Our platform the app is based on, Koomba, will be capable of machine learning in the near future, which will have implications for the use of artificial intelligence in mapping technology," he said.
"We haven't commercialised Koomba yet because we need funds to take it to the next level, but we have already created some bespoke versions."
Takor's Android-based mobile mapping app called Mappt has been downloaded by more than 16,000 people in 80 countries.
Military application
In the past year-and-a-half the company has also developed an application specifically for the US military, available in the GEOINT Military app store, after learning that a small group of marines had been using Mappt in the field.
"We've only been marketing it to them for six weeks. It took almost a year for the US military to vet our code and ensure there were no backdoor vulnerabilities... but now we see it growing very quickly," Mr Farhand said.
"Soldiers still walk around with their phones in their pockets during combat and one way they use it is for situational awareness. They can see where their comrades are and communicate with them via maps, no longer needing to call in coordinates. They also take geotagged photo-s in the field of suspected areas with improvised explosive devices."
Takor's products have also been used to map the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, for tracking and managing Cheetah populations in Oran and for bushfire management in Australia and the US.
Mappt Military costs $US790 a year, while Mappt costs users $60 per month for a standard subscription, and $US80 a month for a professional licence.
It is already being used by BHP Billiton, Samsung and the World Wildlife Foundation. Takor also has a photo-sharing and messaging service known as Kojai.
Takor is raising between $6 million to $8 million, giving it a maximum valuation of $18 million.
In the 2013 full year the company made almost $500,000 in revenue, but since deciding to abandon consulting and develop its own products, revenue took a hit while the business focused on research and development, so in the 2016 financial year it it recorded less than $66,000 in revenue.
Takor will join other location-based technology start-ups such as
aerial imagery small caps Nearmap - which recently reported $17.7 million in revenue for the first half of the 2017 financial year, but has fallen more than 50 per cent since October 2016 - and Spookfish.
Abandoned back-door listing
In 2015 the company had pursued a backdoor listing of Bone Medical, but ended up pulling out of it, believing that the company's value had changed.
"In the six month period we were growing exceptionally quickly and we saw money and value on the table... but we ended up realising we were giving away a lot of the company for a lower valuation," Mr Farhand said.
"We realised if we waited 1.5 years and got some really good people on the board, like we have in Peter Hawkins [a Westpac non-executive director], we had a more compelling offering."
Mr Farhand said that being a Perth-based company, the business also did not have the same options as Melbourne and Sydney start-ups in terms of going after venture capital funding.
"In Perth the traditional route is an RTO. We've seen the good, the bad and the ugly... but there's no real VC funds of major ilk. It could have been good to have something like that. But we have previously received $250,000 from some [private equity] guys around Australia."
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