UPDATED 00:27 EDT / SEPTEMBER 26 2015

NEWS

Unicorn test: SaaS enterprise solutions provider & Australia’s biggest startup Atlassian files for IPO

SaaS enterprise solutions provider Atlassian Pty. Ltd., Australia’s biggest tech startup, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO).

Details are somewhat vague, with The Wall Street Journal noting that the company has filed the IPO paperwork under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which is said to permit companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue to file their IPO paperwork confidentially.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are underwriting the offering.

Founded in 2002 by Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brooks, Atlassian offers a range of software as a solution (SaaS) products focused on team collaboration including JIRA, Confluence and HipChat.

Although based in Sydney (Australia) the company also has a strong presence in Silicon Valley not only in headcount but also among startups who use their products.

Most recently Atlassian has been on an acquisition spree, having acquired messaging provider Hall in May and the company behind video and chat conferencing service Jitsi in April.

Unicorn test

Tech initial public offerings have been thin on the ground in 2015, despite the fact that many would argue that the tech sector is in the middle of the second great tech bubble; it could be argued that despite similar insane valuations and venture capital like the last time around, this time companies seem to be somewhat reluctant in testing their valuations on publicly traded markets.

Unlike enterprise storage maker Pure Storage, Inc., another unicorn (startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more) going public in November, Atlassian is a different sort of unicorn, or as The Wall Street Journal somewhat jokingly notes is “unique among software firms for funding its growth by being profitable;” the unicorn test comes into the picture on the consideration of whether publicly traded markets agree with the valuations these companies have raised money on.

As of its last round of $140 million in April Atlassian is believed to be valued at AU$4.7 billion ($3.3 billion) but given the secrecy around the IPO filing, and the fact that the company has yet to go on the record, it’s not clear on either how much they are chasing in going public, or what they are valuing themselves at, but that said a tech startup going public that makes a profit is most definitely a rare creature.

Our prediction: whatever Atlassian is looking to raise they’ll do handsomely, and deservedly, and Farquhar and Cannon-Brooks will most definitely appear near the top of the richest Australian list in short shrift thereafter.

Pre-IPO Atlassian had raised at least $210 million from firms including Dragoneer Investment Group, T. Rowe Price and Accel Partners.

It’s not clear from reports when exactly the float will occur.

Image credit: lachlanhardy/Flickr/CC by 2.0

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