This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation initially came to life when…
…I began trying to help small ASX-listed companies promote themselves to investors. Then speaking with larger companies, I realised that they were also trying to solve an investor problem – communicating with their existing shareholders more efficiently and effectively. With a background in equity markets, I knew the information investors needed to understand an investment opportunity, but despite advances in technology, it was still incredibly difficult to find this information. So the idea for building a platform to bring together listed-companies and investors – just as Linkedin brings together businesses and employees – was born.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
…help smaller companies get discovered by investors, larger companies communicate more effectively with their existing shareholders, and investors in all companies better understand the businesses of these companies and the investment opportunities they represent.
It does this by…
…presenting information on all listed companies, under 9 key headings, in the same place. We make it easy for investors to keep up to date with company news through a simple ‘follow’ process that delivers company news to their personal news feed and sends emails notifying them of new information.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
…there is no efficient way for companies to communicate their investment story to a broad audience. It is also incredibly difficult for Investors to find the information they need to understand the investment proposition of most companies (the information they require is buried by enormous volumes of irrelevant information and is in different places and different formats for each company.)
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
…efficient communication for companies with the fastest growing section of the investor community – private investors. Powerful information service for Investors giving them the information they need to understand every company in the same format and in the same place.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
…the annual report. It is still the main tool used by Investors to understand the businesses of listed companies. Company websites (all approx 2,000 of them), are the next most popular tool used by Investors. Stock exchange announcements (in non-searchable PDF form) and poor quality company profiles on finance websites.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
…annual reports, company websites, the stock exchange websites, other finance websites such as Google Finance and Yahoo Finance and subscription products such as IRESS or Bloomberg.
5. TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
…all listed companies and investors in stocks around the world. Our first target is the Australian market (approx 2,000 companies and 4M investors). This will be followed by the US and UK markets and then other international markets around the world (our focus will be markets that produce information in English. We aim to enable investors to learn about companies listed on any stock exchange and companies to explain their investment story to any investor in any country.
It is available for sale through…
…the web.
Our marketing strategy is to…
…Stockbrokers will market the site to their clients, we’ll use SEM, sponsor industry conferences, press releases, etc. We will work with companies to market to their shareholders – especially those who wish to use the site for communicating with their shareholders. As we add more investors, more companies will see the site as a great way to market to investors.
FINE PRINT: This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.