IPOs Take Top Of Mind For Tech Unicorns

IPOs may be back for tech and for unicorns.

As of this writing on Friday (April 7), Okta looked poised to make gains out of the gate on Friday, with 11 million shares for sale in an offering that had been slated to raise nearly $190 million for the enterprise software firm.

And even as deal making got buttoned up, as seen with Cisco and AppDynamics (which was bought for $3.7 billion just before coming public) at the end of last month, the IPO landscape is marked with additional anticipation, as Cloudera is coming to market.

The company filed its S-1 document with the SEC late last month, with a rough $4 billion implied valuation, as noted by TechCrunch. Revenues have grown 57 percent year over year, with sales of $261 million and losses of $187 million. In one notable funding round, Intel invested $740 million in the company (which was its latest private investment round).

Other unicorns may be pawing at the ground for public debuts. The financial trade press reports that Spotify, the music streaming service, may list this year. But in a twist, the shares would list directly in an exchange, which means that the firm would not sell shares directly to institutions or individuals, with some money saved on underwriting.

Separately, Japan’s Softbank, among the biggest investors in Snapdeal, is looking to effect a sale in that Indian eCommerce play, with no agreements in place yet.