The wait is over.
Demand-side platform The Trade Desk has dropped its S-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating plans to go public. The company hopes to raise $86.3 million in the offering, and management will maintain substantial control of the company.
By contrast, Criteo sought $190 million in its IPO, Rocket Fuel sought $100M and TubeMogul initially sought $75 million (before pricing its shares lower).
The Trade Desk is known to be a thriving company with a dedication to serving the needs of its mostly agency customers.
Among other details from the S-1: The company reported 2015 revenue of $113.8 million, on gross billings of $530 million. Earnings before income tax for the year was $39.2 million.
Revenue for the first six months of 2016 was $77.6 million, indicating a growth rate of 83% for the first half of this year.
The company said in its filing that it has substantially diversified its buying capability since its 2011 founding, when 100% of gross spend went to display advertising. In 2015 that number had shrunk to 57%, with 43% allocated to mobile, video and social channels.
The Trade Desk is also in the early stages of integrating with native ad formats. AdExchanger sources say MediaMath and Trade Desk are the two DSPs farthest along in testing out programmatic native and integrating with supply sources. Adding new formats requires a sizable tech investment that The Trade Desk is making. Its ability to make those investments will be accelerated by the funds it raises with its IPO, which could help it put some distance between itself and competitors that have struggled with late-stage fundraising.
As AdExchanger reported in June, a public offering from The Trade Desk will come as welcome news to many ad tech companies, both private and public, which have seen their valuations stagnate or decline in recent years.
In the June story, which also described plans by AppNexus for a public offering, Tolman Geffs, co-president of Jordan Edmiston Group, said, “These are both high-quality platforms that have established themselves as winners with highly sustainable, nonarbitrage business models. Unlike other ad tech IPOs that come to mind, customers are not going to be embarrassed by the reported gross margins. So both the IPO and M&A market will welcome resetting the bar for advertising technology IPOs.”
Sarah Sluis and Ryan Joe contributed.
