As far as exits go, things are picking up for Colorado tech companies: over $1 billion was generated via exits in 2013. Thanks to Rally Software’s breakout IPO in April 2013 at $84 million the decade-long drought in big tech IPOs in the state finally ended. Mercury Payment Systems followed suit this April with a $100 million IPO.
Nationally, tech IPOs are picking up as well. 2014 is the biggest year so far for IPOs since 2000 (so far, 2014 IPO rates are 2x that of 2013), according to Renaissance Capital. The surge is causing many to cry "tech bubble," pointing to absurdly high valuations like WhatsApp’s $19 billion exit. But experts like Mary Meeker reported the number of tech companies that IPO’d last year was 87 percent below the numbers for 1999 and the total valuation of tech IPOs is 73 percent lower than in 1999. But no matter where experts stand on the tech bubble spectrum, no one questions that today’s tech ecosystem is churning out some high-growth companies with well-crafted products. Colorado is no exception to that. The three companies below, all which are expecting IPOs in the near future, are proof of Colorado's fast-growing tech ecosystem, an ecosystem that promises to generate (and locally reinvest) capital as it matures.
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What they do: provide cloud-based identity management software for companies and government organizations.
Total funding: $80 million
Their investors: SAP Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, DFJ and General Catalyst just to name a few.
Their team: CEO Andre Durand founded Ping in 2002. Today it is a 350-person team working with 1,000 companies and government organizations like Boeing, BMW, ADP and Cisco Systems.
IPO goal: With the company's revenue growing at 50 percent rate each year Durand told AllThingsD last year that he “felt the time was right to take advantage of the opportunity we see and to leave no ambiguity about our vision. The goal is to be ready to do this as soon as possible, perhaps as soon as 2014.”
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What they do: collect information about real-world retail sales and other customer data and sells that information to advertisers who use it for digital marketing campaigns.
Total funding: A $45 million round last week nearly doubled its total funding amount to $86.5 million.
Their investors: Institutional Venture Partners, Sequel Venture, General Catalyst and Breyer Capital.
Their team: The 250-person team has grown by over 100 in the past year. Founded in 2001, the company is led by CEO Eric Roza.
IPO speculations: The Wall Street Journal reported last week that that the company is working with investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Barclays to prepare an IPO as high as $75 million. With partners such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, Datalogix has capitalized on the growing Big Data market: their annual revenues have increased 50 percent in the last 12 months.
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Who they are: a provider of log management, security information and event management solutions for organizations.
Total funding: $36.3 million
Their investors: Adams Street Partners, Grotech, Access Venture Partners, Siemens, High County
Their team: Founded in 2003 by Phillip Villella and Chris Peterson, the company has grown to over 250 people at its Boulder headquarters. Andy Grolnick, an OpenLogic veteran, is now President and CEO.
Why IPO: LogRhythm competitors include HP, IBM and Intel, but with a revenue increase of 50 percent each year, the company is looking to give the big guys a run for their money. Peterson told Xconomy a late 2014 or early 2015 IPO is likely because LogRhythm has a “revenue and a growth rate that would support a public company - and this is still a rapidly growing and evolving market that would support a lot of innovation.”
