Kollect lists on NASDAQ

Why list in Sweden – our CEO John O’Connor explains why.

Kollect started out with a very simple plan: make it as easy as possible for a customer (domestic and commercial) to book a rubbish collection online. In the past, waste collections were a complicated process with a need to go through multiple service providers in order to get the desired service. More often than not, communication breakdowns led to delays and ultimately, customer dissatisfaction.

When we launched our online platform, the general feedback from customers was “where have you been all my life”. This coincided with an online revolution, with more and more people booking services online, such as food, drink, taxis etc. The likes of Uber, Just Eat and Deliveroo were honing in a market that was ripe for the picking.

This is why, in 2019, Kollect sought growth capital to seize the opportunity of bringing our online platform across Ireland, the UK and beyond. Nasdaq First North in Sweden is a growth market so was ideal for a start-up company like Kollect. This allowed us to raise capital quickly in order to seize, what was a once in a lifetime growth opportunity.

With additional capital, we were able to purchase BIGbin, which is another fantastic waste solution that allows people to legally, dump their rubbish “on the fly”. This, pay-as-you-go model was exactly the kind of operation that Kollect is famous for so it made sense for us to add BIGbin to our service offering.

Ultimately, Sweden provides an interesting and unique offering for fast-growth companies like ours because of their sophisticated and established investor base, as well as an appetite among ordinary Swedes for retail investment. There is a well-functioning ecosystem surrounding Nasdaq first North and we felt it gave us the best opportunity for the management team to execute our growth plan. Finally, and equally as important, Swedish people are focused on sustainability and the true meaning of being “green”, which is very much in line with our business.