Israeli fintech company Way2Vat Ltd. (ASX: W2V) has completed an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange, raising A$7 million (NIS 16.3 million) at a valuation of A$30.7 million (NIS 72 million). On its first day of trading, last Friday, the stock shot up by 57.5% from A$0.20 to A$0.315, but it has subsequently subsided to A$0.27.

Way2Vat, of Herzliya, is the developer and operator of an automated, AI-based platform for filing value added tax (VAT) returns. The platform connects to the customer's exiting expenses management system, analyzes the reclaimable VAT amounts, and automatically files a refund claim with the relevant tax authority, thus, according to the company, rendering the manual process of filing VAT claims unnecessary.

The company says that it has more than 180 customers, among them Mastercard, EY Israel, Intel, and Amdocs. Last year, the company also launched a solution for small and mid-size businesses. Way2Vat makes its money from a commission on each VAT refund claim filed using its platform. The average rate of VAT in the OECD countries is 19.3%, with a range of 5% to 27%.

Way2Vat was founded in 2016 by its CEO Amos Simantov. Simantov was formerly a senior manager at SintecMedia and Rit Technologies. According to the prospectus for the offering in Australia, Simantov holds 5.7% of the shares in the company. Other significant shareholders are Poalim Capital Markets and the iAngels fund. Way2Vat's chairperson is Adoram Gaash, whose background is in venture capital. The company has about 50 employees.

Way2Vat's revenue is still modest, but it is growing rapidly. In 2020, revenue totaled $1 million, up from $408,000 the previous year. The company posted a loss of $2.8 million in 2020, which compares with a loss of $3.6 million in 2019.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 22, 2021

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