There has been a strong investor focus this year on companies that provide stay-at-home type services such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) – its shares have increased from about US$1600 to a high of US$3550 in the last 12 months with the majority of those gains occurring since the emergence of COVID-19.

Looking more broadly at the technology sector, it has outperformed the market over the past 12 months, providing investors with a total return of 56%. Compare this to the S&P 500’s total return of 22.5% over the same period and you get a sense of how this sector has boomed in the face of the pandemic.

Australia measures its tech stock performance through the S&P/ASX All Technology Index, which was launched on 24 February this year.

This index, which features 58 of Australia’s leading and emerging technology companies, has followed a similar trajectory to the NASDAQ adding $33 billion in value in three months.

One reason is the accelerated uptake of technology and online activities, such as healthcare services.

This includes the uptake of health tech services such as those offered by the $156M capped MyFiziq (ASX: MYQ), which has started the process of a NASDAQ listing.

MyFiziq has developed and patented a proprietary dimensioning technology that enables its users to check, track, and assess their dimensions using only a smartphone privately and accurately.

MYQ last week appointed Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. to facilitate the listing which would open up a huge market segment to this health tech provider.

As a member of the New York Stock Exchange for more than 135 years, Ladenburg’s breadth of experience across financing and capital markets will be invaluable to MyFiziq as it goes through a period of rapid expansion.

With MyFiziq’s business involving corporate transactions with a multitude of players in the health and wellness sector and significant investment required for research and development purposes, the proposed NASDAQ listing couldn’t have come at a better time.

Access to capital markets that are very much attuned to the tech and biotech industries is a distinct advantage, highlighted by the fact that many merger and acquisition transactions that have occurred among MyFiziq’s peers in the last 12 months have been NASDAQ-listed entities.

The biggest health tech M&A in recent times has been Teledoc’s $18.5BN acquisition of Livongo that will create a leader in consumer-centred virtual health care.

To assist the listing as well as further roll out of the MYFiziq app is the completion of a $5 million placement to sophisticated and institutional investors. The placement was priced at $1.20 and included 1:1 free options for placement participants at a strike price of $1.60 and a 3 year expiry date.

Commenting on this development, chief executive Vlado Bosanac said, “I am very pleased with the support we have received for the placement.

‘’We worked closely with Evolution Capital and the list of institutional and high net worth investors they brought to the table.

“The offer closed substantially oversubscribed, demonstrating significant investor interest in the company.

‘’With the current partner rollouts underway and MyFiziq starting to generate revenue, we are now in a position where the company is unlikely to need additional capital outside of any strategic investment opportunities currently being considered or the proposed NASDAQ listing.

‘’This new capital will assist the company in more rapid expansion of our team and the ability to assist our partners in expediting their go to market timelines.”

MyFiziq’s shares were trading at 28 cents two months ago, indicating that the strike price for the capital raising represents a 330% premium to its share price in August.

MyFiziq’s ability to complete a heavily oversubscribed capital raising at a premium price is an endorsement of both the company’s operational future and management’s ability to continue to successfully execute on its growth initiatives.

The raise was an astute move by management to remain on the front foot in positioning the group to engage in its own corporate initiatives, including the collaboration with players in adjacent industries, something that has been a hallmark of the group’s success in 2020.

Some of those collaborations include a potentially company-making deal with Nexus-Vita Singapore, a health monitoring and management technology company that will guarantee MYQ minimum annual revenue of US$3,5M (AU$4.99M) per annum, from the date of commercial launch of its app.

MYQ will work with Nexus to release the app in January 2021.

MYQ has hit several milestones, including an agreement with Bearn LLC targeting over 25 million users, commencing work with Biomorphik and signing its first Binding Term Sheet to expand the newly developed CompleteScan platform capabilities with Asia Pacific corporate wellness platform WellteQ into the $10 trillion global telehealth, corporate wellness and insurance market.

MYQ’s company’s current $150M market cap could prove to be just the beginning for the company – especially ahead of a NASDAQ listing and wider exposure to US investors.