Even though there currently is a cool market for IPOs, communications startup Twilio Inc based in San Francisco has decided to take the plunge and filed for an initial public offering.
On Thursday, the company disclosed that it filed for an IPO. It is the first business that is private and valued at $1 billion by venture capitalists to file since Nutanix Inc the data storage vender did so in December of 2015.
Twilio said it is intending to raise up to $100 million in its IPO. The company is listing its shares with the New York Stock Exchange with a symbol of TWLO.
Twilio software that is Internet-based and its networking platform connects the mobile app of Uber to the telephone network, which allows passengers to text or call their driver.
The Form S-1 submitted by Twilio does not specify the number of shares the company is intending to offer or the price per share. The previous round of funding by Twilio in April of 2015 valued the business at approximately $1 billion.
In March of 2016, Fidelity Investments marked down its shares of Twilio by over 11%. However, the price was still 15% higher from the price Fidelity as well as other investors paid in a round of funding during April of 2015.
This filing indicates the company has increased its pace of growth. Annual revenue moved up from over $49.9 million to nearly $166.9 million from 2013 to 2015.
Facebook Inc is one of the largest customers that Twilio has, with its WhatsApp software for messaging representing close to $9 million of the more than $59.3 million that Twilio earned during the first quarter of 2016, said the company.
However, the company has lost money each year between 2013 and 2015. The company in 2015 lost $35.5 million and has lost $6.5 million in the first quarter of 2016, disclosed its filings.
Twilio accounts for software developers have reached 900,000, according to its filing. Accounts that have generated $5 or more in revenue numbered over 28,000 during March.
Even though tech companies are what drive the IPO market, the industry has been absent in 2016. Many private companies that are highly valued have stayed on the sideline holding off getting an IPO as they are uncertain if the public markets will make an endorsement of their often times very high valuations.
