DocuSign is gearing up to go public in the next six months, sources tell TechCrunch.
The company, which pioneered the e-signature, has now filed confidentially, we are hearing. Utilizing a commonly used provision of the JOBS Act, DocuSign submitted its IPO filing behind closed doors and will reveal it weeks before its public debut.
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 for its debut and is targeting an IPO in either the second or third quarter.
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.
Real estate, financial services, insurance and healthcare are amongst its key industries. Legal, sales and human resource departments frequently use DocuSign to send and sign documents.
In addition to large enterprises, DocuSign also offers services for small and mid-sized businesses. Individual consumers are able to use DocuSign services, too.
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 its largest market, but it’s also 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.
DocuSign declined to comment.
The past few years have been slow for tech IPOs, which is a disappointment for Silicon Valley venture capitalists who can make a lot of money this way. But for the most part, enterprise tech companies have fared better than consumer tech companies, because strong customer retention makes it easier to predict growth.
Dropbox will debut this week and Spotify is slated to go public in April through a different process known as a “direct listing.” Zuora also recently revealed its IPO filing, implying that the company is expecting to debut in the coming weeks.
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