UK TV station Channel Four takes 20% stake in Airtasker’s British arm for $6.5 million

ASX-listed jobs marketplace is looking to ramp up its UK business in a deal with leading TV station Channel Four.

The broadcaster’s VC arm, 4 Ventures, Britain’s leading media-for-equity investor, is tipping in $6.5m million (£3.5m) in value for a 20% stake in Airtasker UK, the company’s UK subsidiary.

Channel 4, which gave the world the at home TV show reaction series Gogglebox, Black Mirror, Derry Girls and Kevin McCloud’s Grand Designs, reaches around 78% of the UK population, 47 million people, a month.

It also developed the comedy game show Taskmaster, seen locally on SBS.

Airtasker Founder and CEO Tim Fung said the deal will accelerate Airtasker’s UK marketplace growth through access to the UK’s biggest free streaming service, with over 1.2 billion views per year.

“We are super excited to welcome 4 Ventures as a strategic partner in Airtasker UK,” Fung said.

“In Australia, we were able to leverage the power of television to make Airtasker a household brand and achieve 20x revenue growth over 5 years together with Seven West Media – and we believe we can do even better with Channel 4 in the UK!” 

Seven took a 15% stake in Airtasker when it was just four years old in 2016, before selling out when the company listed on the ASX in 2021.

4 Ventures boss Vinay Solanki said they were keen to support the launch of the Airtasker marketplace in the UK.

“A key strength of Airtasker is that it enables people to earn additional income through flexible working on their own terms which will no doubt be a benefit to audiences during the current economic climate,” he said.

“We hope that Airtasker’s brand will quickly realise the significant reach and awareness that is only possible through the powerful medium of TV advertising.” 

Last week Airtasker announced a changing of the boardroom guard, with Cass O’Connor taking on the chair role as key investor James Spenceley stepped down after eight years helming the business.

Spenceley,  a seed investor in Airtasker, is focusing on his humanitarian efforts in war-torn Ukraine, having founded humanitarian organisation Aus Ukraine Aid.

In April, the company (ASX:ART) announced it was cutting its workforce by 20% with the loss of 45 jobs, to put its back in the black.