Klaviyo’s Plans to Go Public Indicate Positive Momentum for the IPO Market

Data and marketing automation company Klaviyo announced its intention to go public on Friday, joining the ranks of tech companies seeking to debut on the stock market.

According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Klaviyo plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “KVYO.”

Instacart, a popular grocery delivery service, also submitted its long-awaited IPO filing on the same day as Klaviyo, as both companies hope to seize the opportunity to go public at a time when the IPO market has been relatively sluggish since late 2021. While a few notable tech IPOs have taken place, such as those of software vendor HashiCorp and cloud technology developer Samsara, there has been a scarcity of significant IPOs backed by venture capital in recent times. Another tech giant, Arm, which is owned by SoftBank of Japan, filed for a Nasdaq listing on Monday.

Founded in 2012, Klaviyo specializes in helping businesses store customer data and create detailed profiles for targeted marketing campaigns through channels like email and text messages. The company initially focused on serving online businesses in the e-commerce industry, but it has expanded to cater to other sectors such as restaurants, travel, events, and entertainment.

In its prospectus, Klaviyo reported a net income of $15.2 million for the first half of this year, a significant improvement from the net loss of $24.6 million it experienced during the same period last year. The company’s revenue for the first half of this year was approximately $321 million, compared to around $208 million for the first six months of 2022.

One of Klaviyo’s major supporters and sources of business is Shopify, the Canadian e-commerce giant. Shopify currently holds approximately 11% of Klaviyo’s shares and invested $100 million in the company in August last year. As of the end of 2022, about 77.5% of Klaviyo’s recurring revenue, generated from existing paid subscriptions, came from customers who also use Shopify. Klaviyo has an exclusive partnership with Shopify, as it is the recommended email solution for members of the Shopify Plus program. Furthermore, Klaviyo integrates with other leading e-commerce platforms such as BigCommerce, Adobe’s Magento, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

Klaviyo revealed that it had amassed over 130,000 customers as of June 30, up from 105,000 customers a year ago.