Pure Storage with $3 Billion Valuation Files for IPO Later This Year

Enterprise flash storage provider Pure Storage, backed by some $531 million in investment capital and toting a $3 billion valuation, has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO) later this year.

The highly-watched company, viewed by some as commanding the technology and business model necessary to overturn the storage market, is looking to raise some $300 million, according to the S-1 documents.

It may need every penny of that and then some to chase down flash market leader EMC (EMC) while fending off IBM (IBM), NetApp (NTAP), HP (HPQ) and upstarts such as Violin (VMEM) and Nimbus in the rapidly growing segment.

The underwriters on the Pure Storage IPO include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Allen & Co., Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Pacific Crest Securities, Stifel, Raymond James and Evercore ISI.

While Pure Storage listed its proposed ticker as PSTG it didn’t disclose on which exchange it will list. The vendor allowed in the filing that it will offer two classes of common stock, with each Class A share entitled to one vote and each Class B share 10 votes.

The company, whose fiscal years end on January 31, disclosed that its revenue increased from $6.1 million in 2013 to $42.7 million in 2014 and $174.5 million in 2015. For the first three months of 2015 ended April 30, 2015, Pure Storage generated $74.1 million in sales for a 201 percent year-over-year growth.

While Pure Storage’s sales increased so did its net losses. The company said it lost $23.4 million in 2013, $78.6 million in 2014 and $183.2 million in 2015. For the three months ended April 30, Pure Storage dropped $49.1 million, the company said. At this point, slightly less than 80 percent of its revenue comes from U.S. sales.

Approximately 50 percent of Pure Storage’s shares are held by venture firms Sutter Hill Ventures, Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures. Sutter Hill, which holds shares equivalent to about 28 percent of the company, is Pure Storage’s largest shareholder. Greylock holds about a 17 stake with lesser ownership percentages held by Redpoint and Index Ventures.

Mike Speiser, Sutter Hill’s managing director, sits on Pure Storage’s board as do Aneel Bhusri, a Greylock partner, and Mike Volpi, an Index partner.

According to its SEC filing, Pure Storage is positioning itself to investors as offering an “innovative business model [that] replaces the traditional forklift upgrade cycle with an evergreen storage model of hardware and software upgrades and maintenance. Our next-generation storage platform and business model are the result of our team’s substantial experience in enterprise storage and web-scale infrastructure, as well as frustration with the industry’s status quo.”

According to researcher IDC, the flash storage market is projected to reach some $2.24 billion by the end of this year, driven by declining prices, improved performance and lower costs.