Snakk Media to list on NZAX

NZ tech entrepreneur Derek Handley's Snakk Media is about to list on the NZAX. Photo / NZ Herald

Derek Handley's Snakk Media - which works with clients to get their ads on mobile internet sites and applications - is planning to list on New Zealand's alternative market.

Snakk, which operates in Australia, enjoyed revenue growth of 345 per cent in the year to March and intends to list of the NZAX in the coming months, the company said in a statement.

Snakk claims to offer advertisers the channels to target and connect with consumers who are using smartphones and tablets.

Across the Tasman, the company is estimated to hold around 15 to 20 per cent of the money spent on mobile advertising.

"We live in an era where the fastest growing technology channels in history are colliding: social media, smartphones, and tablets," Handley said.

"Time spent by consumers on these new screens and channels is rising at a faster rate than time spent viewing other kinds of media, and this is significantly disrupting traditional advertising models and providing a tremendous opportunity for Snakk's shareholders," the New Zealand entrepreneur said.

According to Snakk, analysts predict the mobile advertising space in Australia will reach $AU177m by 2017, up from A$U15 million in 2011.

Handley previously told the Herald Snakk was looking to target the Asia-Pacific market.

"The opportunity is enormous. You have one billion phones in India, and one billion phones in China, everyone in Australia has a phone and you have this wave of mobile media becoming the predominant sector within digital [advertising]," Handley said last year.

The listing on the NZAX aims to facilitate the Snakk's growth through future capital raising initiatives, the company said today.

Snakk was started in 2010 by Australia's Andrew Jacobs and Handley, who is the company's executive chairman.

Handley is the co-founder of mobile marketing company The Hyperfactory, which was bought by US-based Meredith Corp in 2010 for a sum thought to be over US$20 million ($26 million).