This year the biggest initial public offering of the year in the technology sector was Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), which has skyrocketed in value in less than two months and remains nearly three times as high as its IPO price. So what will 2014 bring in terms of tech IPOs? Forbes has put together a list of 11 of the biggest tech IPOs which may happen in 2014. Although not all of these companies have announced intentions that they will have IPOs soon, there have been murmurings in the markets about many of them.
Alibaba.com
Alibaba is China’s biggest ecommerce site, and the company’s IPO is expected to be the largest tech IPO in 2014. If it beats Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s $16 billion IPO, Alibaba could end up being the biggest tech offering in history.
Because of its sizeable stake in Alibaba, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has seen a nice share increase over the last year because of how well Alibaba has been doing. The Chinese ecommerce site saw its profits triple during the first quarter of 2013, and sales hit $6 billion in just one day. Yahoo!’s stake in the company is so big that analysts are considering its value in light of Alibaba’s expected IPO, which had been planned for this year but was delayed. The ecommerce site has reportedly been speaking with the Hong Kong exchange as well as exchanges in the U.S. in deciding where it will go public, although it has been said to be leaning toward a U.S.-based exchange.
Coupons.com and Ebates.com
Although Coupons.com has been around since before Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), it still hasn’t gone public. Groupon’s shares have had a tough year as its email strategy floundered, but things could be turning around. The weakened economy proved good for Coupons.com because its popularly rose, making it the 42nd biggest U.S. website. So far Coupons.com has raised $277 million in venture capital from Greylock Partners and Passport Capital. Also the time might be ripe for the company to go public since another coupon site—RetailMeNot Inc (NASDAQ:SALE)—went public this year and has seen its value rise 38%.
Ebates.com is another coupon site, and while it does offer traditional coupons, it specializes more in rebates. The site offers cash back through PayPal or a check on certain online purchases.
Box and Dropbox
Box and Dropbox are both online cloud storage companies, and both are expected to public in 2014. We know Box will have an IPO in 2014 because the company already chose JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) (VTX:CSGN)and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) as underwriters for its offering. The company has been around since 2005 and raised more than $400 million in venture capital from several companies and firms.
Dropbox has been around since 2007, and there has been talk that the company would have an IPO for some time. This company’s IPO is not expected until after Box’s IPO, possibly putting it in the second half of 2014. Dropbox has raised more than $250 million from venture capitalists already and is said to be trying to raise an additional $250 million.
Lending Club
The peer-to-peer lending service Lending Club confirmed to Forbes that it is planning to have its offering in 2014. Recently the company passed $3 billion in personal loans and has raised $220 million in venture capital. Even Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has given the company money this year, valuing Lending Club at $1.6 billion.
King.com
Online game maker King.com was also said to have been planning a 2013 IPO, but it delayed because of concerns that the company’s only hit game is Candy Crush. King.com has approximately 100 million daily users. If King.com does IPO in 2014, it could face battles similar to fellow online game maker Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), which has had a rough time of it since going public in 2011 although this year its shares have begun to pick up steam. So far King.com has raised $43 million in venture capital.
GrubHub Seamless, Tubemogul, Zoosk and Opower
GrubHub and Seamless merged this year to form the company with both their names. The companies provide coordination for deliveries from major restaurants. Seamless was still running its delivery services when New York City was shut down last year for Hurricane.
This video marketing company focuses on making video distribution easier using its OneLoad platform, which uploads video ads onto multiple sites at the same time. It also offers video analytics services and combines brand measurement with media buying.
Online dating service provider Zoosk is also said to be considering filing for its IPO in 2014, as is clean tech company Opower, which works with utilities in using cloud-based software to improve energy efficiency.
