Stock-related information surrounding three of the biggest names in their segments populated the news cycle on Thursday as word of public stock offerings for all three came to light.
According to multiple reports, online payments firm Stripe and online grocery Thrive Markets are mulling initial public offerings (IPO) while Zomato, the largest India-based food-delivery company, said it would go public next week in India with a valuation up to $7.98 billion, setting a per share price range of 96 cents to $1.02.
Reuters reported the Zomato filing. Thrive Market is considering an IPO at a $2 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported, and Stripe has reportedly hired a law firm as it looks into a possible IPO, Reuters said.
In March, Stripe announced it had raised $600 million in funding to become the most valuable startup in the U.S., according to CB Insights, with a valuation of $95 billion. Total funding in Stripe, which is based in San Francisco, California, and Dublin, Ireland, across 15 rounds is $2.2 billion, according to Crunchbase. Primary investors in the latest round included Allianz X, Axa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Co., Sequoia Capital, and Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).
According to Reuters, that funding and patience for its investors could pay off soon. The news outlet cited sources as saying the payments firm has hired Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP to advise it on a possible move into the public markets.
Related:
Read: Stripe most expensive startup in US with $95B valuation
Read: Stripe acquires TaxJar, plans to build tax automation solutions
Reuters said a listing in 2021 is unlikely and Stripe is considering a direct listing rather than the traditional IPO route. In a direct listing, current owners of shares are allowed to sell directly into the markets, rather than listing through a brokerage.
Stripe was founded by brothers Patrick and John Collision. The company competes directly with Paypal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Square (NYSE: SQ) and counts Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Instacart, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) and Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) among its global customers. It sells payment software and like other payment providers, has seen significant growth over the past year as the global COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in consumers’ buying habits, accelerating e-commerce.
Stripe’s global payments and treasury network is a programmable infrastructure for global money movement. Already with operations in 42 countries, Stripe plans to expand its payment and treasury network to include businesses in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
Online grocer Thrive eyes listing
Thrive Market is also reportedly working on a potential IPO, working with Goldman Sachs Group, according to Bloomberg. The listing could value the company at $2 billion.
Thrive customers pay a monthly fee for access to premium brands that offer no price market.
The company has raised $241.4 million across eight investment rounds, according to Crunchbase. The most recent investment was a $20 million convertible note from Invus, which also led a $111 million Series B round in 2016. Other investors include Greycroft, Headline, and MaC Venture Capital.
Zomato filing
Zomato announced in April that it would publicly list its stock. The company is backed by China’s Ant Group as well as Info Edge, Uber BV, Alipay Singapore Holding, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital among others.
In the first three quarters of fiscal year 2021, Zomato reported $182 million in revenue but $230.7 million in expenses. Revenue increased 96%, the company said.
Zomato’s IPO will launch on July 14 on the Indian Stock Exchange.
Click for more Modern Shipper articles by Brian Straight.
You may also like:
Social Auto Transport raises $1.5M in seed funding to expand gig economy auto-moving business
Bringg’s collaboration with Uber opens new doors for e-commerce