UPDATED 23:41 EDT / MAY 07 2015

James Park Fitbit CEO Founder NEWS

Pump it real good: Fitbit files for $100 million IPO

Fitness tracking startup Fitbit Inc. is making a bold dash to Wall Street with a filing lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thursday to take the company public.

The initial public offering (IPO) filing states that the company is chasing $100 million from the public in an offering that will be underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and BofA Merrill Lynch. Forbes though notes that the $100 million figure is a placeholder, rather than the amount Fitbit ultimately plans to raise.

The numbers in the filing stack up well for the Fitbit, with the company reporting just shy of $132 million in net income on $745 million in revenue for 2014, a big turnaround from 2013 when they bled $52 billion on $271 million in revenue. The year before they lost $4 million on $76 million in revenue.

Actual sales continue to surge, with Fitbit reporting that it sold 10.9 million devices last year, up from 4.5 million in 2013 and 1.3 million in 2012.

Paid active users of Fitbit services grew from 600,000 in 2012 to 6.7 million last year.

“We have rapidly grown to become a leading global health and fitness brand” a statement in the filing reads. “We sell our products in over 45,000 retail stores and in more than 50 countries, through our retailers’ websites, through our online store at Fitbit.com, and as part of our corporate wellness offering. Our broad distribution and market-leading connected health and fitness platform have driven significant growth since our founding.”

Risk factors

Fitbit’s IPO comes at a time the Apple Watch has gone on sale, and while there are no firm figures as to how successful the watch actually is, how those sales may affect Fitbit going forward is detailed in the filing.

“…many large, broad-based consumer electronics companies either compete in our market or adjacent markets or have announced plans to do so, including Apple, Google, LG, Microsoft, and Samsung. For example, Apple has recently introduced the Apple Watch smart watch, with broad-based functionalities, including some health and fitness tracking capabilities.”

“If we are not able to compete effectively against our current or potential competitors, our prospects, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.”

The filing names a range of risks, and it is a highly competitive market, but only time will tell if Fitbit will end up being a good, long term investment.

Based in San Francisco, Fitbit has raised $83.8 million over five rounds prior to going public. Investors include True Ventures, Foundry Group, SoftBank Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, SoftTech VC and Felicis Ventures.


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