Cloud Storage Company Dropbox Secretly Files For IPO: Report

Cloud storage platform Dropbox has reportedly secretly filed for an IPO, according to Bloomberg.

The San Francisco-based company, valued at $10 billion, has reportedly picked Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to lead their IPO, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The cloud sharing platform is reportedly aiming to list in the first half of 2018.

The news comes after speculation last year that Dropbox would file for IPO. Last summer, sources told Bloomberg Dropbox would file for an IPO in 2017. The company also rolled out new programs to increase its revenue ahead of its expected IPO filing.

One of the programs was Dropbox Professional, a plan that lets users store, share, and track their work from one place. The program also provides users with 1 TB of space, priority chat support and extra sharing options, like password-protected and expiring links. Dropbox Professional, released last fall, works with two other new features: Dropbox Showcase and Dropbox Smart Sync. The platform aimed to reel in designers, salespeople and marketing professionals with its Dropbox Showcase tool. Dropbox Showcase allows users to present to clients and partners with visual previews, customized layouts and captions. It also lets users track progress and see what content has been seen and by whom.

Dropbox is the latest tech company to file for IPO. Spotify reportedly secretly filed for an IPO last month. The music-streaming platform is said to be going after a direct listing, differentiating itself from previous tech companies that have filed for IPO. Rumors of Spotify’s IPO interest began last summer, like Dropbox, after the company surpassed the 60 million paid subscriber count.

Spotify and Dropbox also follow another tech company: Snapchat. The social media platform went public last spring. Snapchat’s stock was up at $27 per share in March 2017, but the company hasn’t had a positive trend. Snap’s price was at $14.61 as of noon on Jan. 10.

However, Dropbox is at a better position than Snapchat, Bloomberg reporter Alex Brinka pointed out. Dropbox said last January it had reached $1 billion in annual sales, whereas Snapchat was not profitable and had a $404 million in annual revenue at its IPO.

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston co-founded the company in 2007. The platform boasts 500 million worldwide users, with 200,000 businesses working with Dropbox Business.