Coverage: Survey Monkey’s parent files for an IPO

SVMK, the parent company of Survey Monkey, the online polling company, filed for an initial public offering on Wednesday that could raise as much as $100 million.

Troy Wolverton of Business Insider had the news:

“We believe SurveyMonkey is a category-defining global brand,” SVMK said in the registration statement it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Our products are inherently viral.”

This year has already seen an uptick in tech IPOs, thanks to investors hungry for stakes in young, fast-growing companies. But that dynamic could play against SVMK’s offering.

Founded in 1999, it’s no newcomer. And its revenue grew just 5.5 percent last year while it posted a sizable loss. Its sales have picked up this year, though. It’s also worth noting that the company has raised $1.1 billion across five funding events, according to Crunchbase — at least $300 million of which came in the form of debt.

Jordan Novet of CNBC.com reported that the company has more than 2,900 customers:

The company cited Alphabet’s Google as a competitor, along with companies like Qualtrics and Medallia that offer “licensed enterprise feedback software.” SurveyMonkey’s investors include Tiger Global and the Sheryl K. Sandberg Revocable Trust.

SurveyMonkey had more than 2,900 customers with organization-level agreements at the end of June, according to the filing.

SurveyMonkey included a survey in the filing itself. “We want to hear the opinions and feedback of our prospective public investors, so we can continue to improve,” the company said. There were two open-ended questions, including, “What’s the top thing that stands out to you about SurveyMonkey today?”

SurveyMonkey is the latest in a wave of venture-backed tech companies that have filed to go public this year, including Dropbox, DocuSign, Domo, Eventbrite and Sonos.

Kate Clark of TechCrunch reported that Sandberg will donate her proceeds to a foundation:

The online polling company has raised some $600 million across several rounds of equity funding from investors, including Tiger Global, which owns a 29.3 percent pre-IPO stake. Its board includes Serena Williams and Sheryl Sandberg.

Sandberg’s late husband Dave Goldberg was the former CEO of the company; he passed away in 2015. She owns 10,318,577 shares, but plans to “donate all shares beneficially owned by her (or the proceeds from the sale thereof) to the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation as part of fulfilling their philanthropic commitment to the Giving Pledge,” the filing states.

SurveyMonkey joins a herd of unicorns that have announced plans to transition into the public sphere this year. Eventbrite, for example, submitted its IPO paperwork last week, with plans to raise $200 million from selling Class A shares.

Smartsheet, Zuora, Dropbox and DocuSign have all completed their public debuts this year.