DocuSign is gearing up to go public in the next six months, sources tell TechCrunch.
The company, which pioneered the e-signature has been talking about an IPO for a while but has now filed confidentially, we are hearing.
Like Dropbox, which is finally going public this week, San Francisco-based DocuSign has been an anticipated IPO for several years now. It’s raised over $500 million since it was founded in 2003 and has been valued at $3 billion. Kleiner Perkins, Bain Capital, Intel Capital, GV (Google Ventures) and Dell are amongst the many well-known names which have invested in DocuSign.
But like many “unicorns” these days, the company took its time, spending 15 years as a private company. The DocuSign team decided that 2018 is the year that it is finally ready and is targeting an IPO in either the second or third quarter.
San Francisco-based DocuSign, which competes with HelloSign and Adobe Sign, amongst others, has been on a mission to get the world’s businesses to sign documents online. The team has worked with large enterprises like T-Mobile, Salesforce, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.
The company has a tiered business model, with corporations paying more for added services. Public investors will be evaluating DocuSign both on its revenue growth and customer retention.
North America is their largest market, but they’ve been focused on expanding throughout the world, including the U.K., France, Australia, Brazil, Singapore and Japan.
Since its inception, DocuSign has undergone several management changes. Early last year, Dan Springer took the helm. He was formerly CEO of Responsys, which went public and then was bought by Oracle for $1.5 billion.
Keith Krach, who is now chairman, had been running the company since 2011. Krach was previously CEO of Ariba, which was acquired by SAP for $4.3 billion.
