Moving house is no easy task.
It's stressful beyond belief, made difficult by all the paperwork and contracts that need to be signed; the various fees that need to be paid; dealing with the banks to organise the new mortgage. It's time consuming and the packing that comes with it seems never ending.
Then, when you're finally in your new home and think you can put the feet up on the couch, you have to spend hours after hours contacting the utility companies, updating various contacts and ensuring your mail gets forwarded properly.
After his experience with this, David Greenberg described the experience as "insane" and knew there had to be a better way. That's why he created Updater.
Who is Updater?
Updater provides an online platform that helps people through this difficult process. Okay, so it mightn't pay your bills or relocate your furniture, but it does provide a centralised service for people wanting to update their address and organise for their mail to get forwarded, thus taking care of a lot of the more tedious tasks of moving house.
Now, according to The Australian Financial Review, local investors could get the opportunity to invest in this start-up as soon as February 2016, with the US-based company looking to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) on the ASX.
The Next 1-Page?
Updater would follow in the footsteps of fellow United States technology company 1-Page Ltd (ASX: 1PG) which became the first Silicon Valley company to float its shares on the ASX, rather than the tech-heavy NASDAQ.
1-Page, which is striving to revolutionise the way companies hire new employees, listed its shares just under 12 months ago and has risen a staggering 1,360% in the time since (and no, that's not a typo).
As highlighted by the AFR, Updater wants to list on the ASX as it would provide a good pathway for a future listing on the NASDAQ. By then, it hopes to be much bigger and believes it can achieve similar returns for shareholders as 1-Page has.
Of course, comments like these should be considered with a grain of salt – if a company truly believed its shares could jump so high, they'd offer them at a much higher price in the first place. In saying that, I do like what the company is offering and believe it could become an important platform for making the task of moving homes an easier process.
If I were to buy, I'd buy for this reason and not based on the expectation of a 14-bagger.
As it stands, Updater will focus its attention on the United States market, where it believes it has a greater opportunity for growth. It plans to rapidly increase its market share over the coming years, and could certainly be one for investors to watch if a February IPO does eventuate.
Now, we just need to find someone who can pay our bills and move our furniture…
