Snakk Media shares soar on first day

Richard Branson recorded a special message for the launch party of Snakk Media. Photo / Chris Gorman

Shares in Derek Handley's Snakk Media soared more than 300 per cent yesterday on its debut listing on the New Zealand stock exchange.

The tech entrepreneur's latest venture listed on the alternative market at 6.5c but hit a high of 40c before falling back to close on 29c, still up 22.5c or 346.15 per cent.

Handley, who made his money through selling his Hyperfactory business, described the listing as a "milestone" which would enable the business to raise capital to grow in its target markets of Australia and Asia.

He said Snakk Media, which helps companies get their advertising in front of smartphone and tablet users, was riding on the wave of people switching to new technology.

"Snakk is a business built on this wave to ride it out for the next five to 10 years."

Handley has the backing of British entrepreneur Richard Branson who recorded a message for the launch congratulating him and describing Snakk as an "exciting business".

"Every big company was a small company once," Branson said.