Not a single e-commerce company went public on a U.S. stock exchange in 2016, according to startup data firm CB Insights. But with the new year, there are some new possibilities — even in an industry dominated by Amazon.
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Here are three young e-commerce companies that could surprise the startup world with IPOs in 2017.
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Chewy.com
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Maybe it’s that Chewy is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and not New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Seattle. Or maybe it’s that the startup has been more focused on its business than courting the business press.
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Either way, online pet supply retailer Chewy.com is one of the most under-the-radar e-commerce success stories of the past few years, and a 2017 IPO is a possibility, according to a spokesman and another person familiar with the company’s plans.
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As of last month, Chewy was projecting nearly $900 million in revenue for 2016 and $1.5 billion for 2017, a spokesman said. The startup has quietly raised $236 million from blue-chip public-market investors like T. Rowe Price and BlackRock, after getting its start with a Series A investment in 2013 from Volition Capital, a spinoff of Fidelity Ventures.
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A 2017 public offering may well depend on whether Chewy can achieve profitability – something it hasn’t done yet – or at least prove there is a reasonable path to get there.
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Stitch Fix
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Right now, an IPO appears to be a when, not if, for Stitch Fix, the online retailer and personal styling service. The company’s try-on-at-home model has been a hit in middle America among busy moms and professional women who would rather shop at home than in a store, with a personal stylist assisting from afar. Now, it’s attempting to court men, too.
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Industry sources estimate that the San Francisco-based company does well north of $500 million in annual sales, with its own portfolio…