Jason Waller braves Covid to list AI-based tech InteliCare

InteliCare’s Jason Waller is confident the decision to list the firm on the ASX on Monday, amid the raging pandemic, is the right one.

CEO of Intelicare Jason Waller

InteliCare chief executive Jason Waller is confident his company’s decision to list on the ASX on Monday, amid the raging pandemic, is the right one.

Mr Waller told The Australian his company, which has developed an artificial intelligence system to support Australia’s elderly and people living with disabilities and help them live independently, is well positioned to become a dominant industry player.

InteliCare’s technology uses passive sensors which upload data to an Internet of Things platform, which learns a user’s typical behaviour. It then sends an alert out to family members or carers if something’s out of the ordinary, which Mr Waller says allows the elderly to avoid aged care, and people living with disabilities to maintain a more independent lifestyle.

Mr Waller, who was an Air Force commanding officer who led combat operations in Iraq, was brought in to commercialise the company’s technology.

On Monday it will list on the ASX under the ticker “ICR”, having raised $5.5m in an oversubscribed issue of 27.5 million shares at 20c each.

The company will list with a market capitalisation of $15.1m.

Mr Waller said there was no shortage of investors wanting to support the Perth-based company, given the interest in the healthtech sector.

“In Australia we have a fundamental problem with our ageing population causing a situation where the taxpayer base that’s available to support them is not large enough,” he said.

“The aged care industries worldwide are in crisis. The company founders understood this, but private equity and venture capital take a fairly large fare so they made a decision to list on the ASX.

“After COVID-19 hit we took a two to three week pause, then decided to go for it. We have solutions that can help in the COVID-19 environment, they’re being seen as buying opportunities for the market and that’s how it’s panned out for us.”

There are a number of players offering technology similar to InteliCare’s functionality, including Melbourne-based start-ups Umps Health and Billy, but Mr Waller said there was plenty of room for competition.

He said that even with a surge in government funding and best efforts, the aged care crisis will likely worsen as Baby Boomers continue to move into their retirement years and there won’t be enough people to look after them.

“A rising tide lifts all boats, and in my view our main competition initially is pendants,” he said. “They don’t actually work though, in 80 per cent of falls people don’t use them. We think we’ll start to displace them.

“Success for me looks like sitting on the stores of Bunnings, JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman next to other smart home technologies such as home security systems.”

Mr Waller added that the ASX is the perfect destination for InteliCare, given it’s full of technology companies working on innovative solutions to real problems.

“The healthcare stocks in particular are trying to make the industry more productive, and that’s particularly important we think given these organisations are setting up cloud-based rostering, and cost control systems, because there aren’t enough bodies in the healthcare industry to provide the care support that’s needed.

“I’m really excited to ring the bell, but my approach is that the best thing I can do to achieve shareholder wealth is to execute on a plan, and I think a two to five- year time horizon is what I need to do to achieve that.”