The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

  • App-building specialist AppsVillage (APV) is set to pocket $2.5 million from a private placement
  • 10 million new shares will be issued to private investors at 25 cents per share
  • The funds will be used to buy an office in the U.S. and support company expansion
  • AppsVillage has recently branched into the micro-financing market and will launch new services in 2020
  • Just before midday, the company’s shares are trading flat for 29 cents each.

App-building and advertising specialist AppsVillage (APV) is set to pocket $2.5 million from a private placement.

The cash was raised by placing 10 million new shares at 25 cents apiece to private investors in Australia and Asia. The price of the shares is a 13 per cent discount to the company’s last close of 29 cents per share, but represents a 25 per cent premium to August’s initial public offering (IPO).

AppsVillage, which has recently branched out into the fintech market, said it plans to use the new cash to buy a U.S. office space to keep expanding into the States. Funds will also be used to kick off an “aggressive customer acquisition strategy” in the U.S.

AppsVillage CEO and Founder Max Bluvband said the company is now in a position to provide more help to small businesses across the globe.

“We were encouraged by the strong support from a range of funds and institutional investors in this round and we are now in an exceptionally good position to deliver on our commercial growth strategy,” Max said.

AppsVillage’s software is designed to make mobile app building and advertising easy for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs).

The AppsVillage platform can be used to design, build, and launch a mobile app without the need for any in-depth code writing or digital marketing knowledge. The company’s tech also allows for direct advertising through Facebook.

In late November, AppsVillage dipped its toes into the micro-financing market.

The company teamed up with Seek Capital and Fundomate to offer small loans of between US$5000 and US$50,000 (A$7330 and A$73,290) to SMBs — all directly through the AppsVillage platform.

The pilot launch of the micro-finance business is just for an eight-week trial period. As part of today’s announcement, however, AppsVillage said it is on track to officially launch the business in the first quarter of 2020.

AppsVillage shares came out of a trading halt to quickly dip into the red, but the company has since recouped the loss. Just before midday AEDT, AppsVillage shares are trading flat at 29 cents apiece.

APV by the numbers
More From The Market Online

Unith wraps up Q1 with $5M in cash as digital humans evolve

Unith has wrapped up Q1 of 2024 with nearly $5M in cash and opex reduced. But…

Orcoda heading into Q2 with new clients under belt via government-led pilot

Orcoda has announced it's heading into Q2 with 4 new clients in its healthcare logistics arm,…

Iress (ASX: IRE) strikes deal with Bain Capital for UK Mortgage Business Sale

Iress (ASX:IRE) has entered into a binding agreement to sell its UK Mortgage business to Bain…