Sydney entrepreneur plans IPO for global talent contest Megastar Millionaire

Adam Wellisch, Systems Director for Bupa Australia’s Health Services division will list his music competition platform on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Megastar Millionaire, an online, mobile-first competition, was founded in June 2013 by Wellisch, who is based in Sydney, and San Francisco-based digital marketing veteran Dion Sullivan.

In has since attracted the attention of original venture investor in Pandora, Doug Barry. The company’s now Chairman was also an early advisor to Rightsflow, the music rights management acquired by Google, as well as a player in the launch of Pledge Music. Also on the Board are US film producer John Baldecchi (Point Break, Conan the Barbarian) and gaming executive Michael Pole.

Set for launch in the US in late 2016, and Australia, New Zealand and Asia following that, Megastar Millionaire will see music artists, as well as performance artists and extreme sports athletes, enter online with the hopes of taking out a grand prize of $1 million.

Each competition will run for 16 weeks following the entry process where contestants will upload videos showcasing their art for a fee. Contestants will need to have a certain number of online fans to be considered. The competition will be publicly voted via a mobile app throughout the 16 weeks and a celebrity panel will seed interest and promote the platform through social and broadcast media. Four semi-finalists will receive $25,000 each, and the Top 12 will be mentored by industry execs and given the chance to audition for a film through Baldecchi’s Digital Riot Studios.

The model itself will launch with a focus on paid voting via frictionless Premium-SMS payments. The voting process will be the primary revenue stream similar to those used for televised talent shows The X Factor and The Voice, however winners have the freedom to independently produce and commercialise their music. Along with its wholly online delivery, the competition’s other point of difference is that its revenue will also come from a freemium subscription platform and the reselling of big data.

Dion Sullivan told AFR the intention is to take list the competition in the US on the Nasdaq. But first, it will reverse-list on the ASX in November under the umbrella of materials industry group Minerals Corporation Limited. Minerals Corp announced its acquisition of Megastar Millionaire in April.

TMN has reached out to Adam Wellisch for comment.