Box Goes Public: Seeks $250 Million IPO
Cloud storage provider Box is seeking an IPO in the $250 Million range. This funding will allow Box to grow into emerging markets, build out infrastructure and attract more business level clients. Analysts report that Box brought in $124 Million in the last fiscal year. In the same fiscal year, Box spent around $168 Million. Box had to spend this money to keep a leg up on the competition. In the IPO, Box has agreed to use the ticker symbol BOX on the New York Stock Exchange.
The IPO filing reiterates Box’s aggressive spending tendencies. The IPO says, “As a result of our continuing investments to scale our business in each of these areas, we do not expect to be profitable for the foreseeable future.”
Storing data in the cloud is more than just a trend. It is the new way of doing business. Box understands this and that is why the company sinks so much money into file storage and file sharing innovation. While Box says that it will not be profitable for the foreseeable future, the company does boast an impressive 25 Million users worldwide. The downside to this is that 93% of those users are non-paying clientele. Box does have 34,000 paying business grade accounts.
Box goes head to head with tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon. With Google announcing that it has drastically reduced its price on cloud storage to pennies on the gigabyte, it makes you wonder how companies like Box will respond.
Box was started in 2005 by Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith. Box got its funding start from Mark Cuban. The eccentric billionaire provided $350,000 for the company to get off the ground. Fast forward to today: Box has acquired over $400 Million in total funding with valuations of the company hovering around the $2 Billion range.
