New Delhi: According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, Klaviyo, a Boston-based marketing automation startup, may be preparing to go public later this year. This potential IPO could mark the end of a long drought of tech startup IPOs and open the gates for other companies that have held back, not wanting to be the first to go public in the current economic climate.
Klaviyo has raised over $775 million, making it a good candidate for an IPO. Its most recent fundraising was in May 2021, when it raised $320 million on an impressive $9.5 billion valuation. It also raised $100 million from Shopify in August 2021, as per the reports.
However, in today’s economic environment, investors are more focused on operational discipline rather than growth at all costs, which has led to major companies like Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce laying off employees to reduce operational costs. As per the reports, Klaviyo also laid off 140 employees last month, in an effort to streamline costs ahead of the possible IPO and make the company more appealing to investors.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Klaviyo has reached nearly $600 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and is profitable, although it’s unclear what that means in terms of adjusted EBITDA and GAAP net income.
Other companies that could break the IPO logjam include Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental service; Reddit, a collection of online communities; and Instacart, a grocery delivery service. Big-data company Databricks, which boasted a $38 billion valuation last year, and Lime, a scooter unicorn, are also potential candidates.
Klaviyo has not responded to a request for comment on the report. If the company does go public later this year, it will be interesting to see how it performs in the current economic climate and if it helps to open the IPO floodgates for other tech startups.
