UPDATED 21:58 EDT / DECEMBER 19 2018

APPS

Adding to a growing queue, Pinterest prepares for 2019 initial public offering

Adding to a growing list of big tech companies ready to test the public markets, photo sharing site Pinterest is reported to be preparing for an initial public offering in 2019.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the company’s plans, today said Pinterest could go public as soon as April on a valuation of $12 billion. That would be on the low side given that it was valued at $11 billion when it raised $367 million in 2015, then $12.3 billion when it raised $150 million in June 2017.

While not seen by most as operating at the same level as social media leaders such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., Pinterest has carved out its own niche among women and millennials. The company is reported to have about 250 million active users, half of them hailing from the U.S.

Reports have pegged its advertising revenue at $500 million in 2017 and it was on track to close 2018 at $700 million, although it’s not known whether it’s profitable.

Should Pinterest go public in the first half of next year it will be joining the likes of Uber Technologies Inc. and rival Lyft Inc. Lyft beat Uber to the punch at least temporarily, confidentially filing for an IPO Dec. 6. Uber was reported to have followed Dec. 7 with its own filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither Uber nor Lyft is profitable and Uber is booking quarterly losses in excess of $1 billion.

Pinterest is unlikely to be losing anywhere near that much, but depending on the timing of its IPO, it could be influenced by the success or failure of both of them. Should Uber and Lyft be well-received, it will send a message that investors can tolerate loss-making tech startups. If not, there will likely be a contagion effect for tech startups that follow.

Pinterest has raised $1.5 billion to date. Investors include Founders Future, All Blue Capital, Sinai Ventures, blisce/, Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel, FirstMark, Valiant Capital Partners, Wellington Management and Andreessen Horowitz.

Image: Pinterest

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