Aussie Netflix rival eyes A$1m share raise

Australian on-demand service Quickflix has asked its customers to acquire shares in the company in order to raise up to A$1 million (US$820,000).

The came after a rights issue brought in just A$650,000 when the company had been hoping to raise closer to A$6 million.

Quick is putting 333,333,334 shares up for sale at just A$0.003 per share. Quickflix shares were yesterday trading lower at A$0.002.

The new funds would “support the company’s strategic objectives and be applied to working capital as well as in investment in content and marketing,” Quickflix said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“There is no guarantee that the company will raise sufficient funds to achieve [its] objectives and there may be restrictions on the company’s financing and operating activities,” Quickflix’s propectus to customers noted.

Quickflix has struggled to gain a foothold in the Australian on-demand market despite having first mover advantage – it launched in 2004. With Netflix, Stan and Presto Entertainment all set to launch as SVOD rivals, Quickflix has decided to take action.

Quickflix chairman and CEO Stephen Langsford (pictured) said his firm had “established a leading position in streaming entertainment and has access to the largest potential streaming audience in the Australian and New Zealand markets today due to its service being available on the widest range of popular devices”.

In September, Langsford wrote a combative open letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings urging him to launch an official Netflix service as many users were using VPN technology to access Netflix’s US offer.

Netflix revealed its service for Australia and New Zealand last month. It launches in March.