Casper Files S-1, Takes Steps To List On NYSE

Around lunchtime on Friday, Casper, an early player in the direct-to-consumer mattress market, submitted its S-1 disclosures to the SEC, a key early step in the IPO process.

Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily

Casper intends to list its shares on the NYSE under the symbol CSPR. Although the company hasn’t disclosed the precise number of shares it intends to float, the filing states that it intends to raise $100 million in the offering, a common placeholder value. The filing is still “subject to completion” and we should expect to see amendments to it between now and its debut.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Jeffries are the lead underwriters of the deal.

The Numbers

Touting more than 1.4 million customers who have bought one or more of the company’s 27 sleep products, the company says that as of the end of Q3 2019, more than 16 percent of people who already own at least one Casper product since the company’s inception have made a repeat purchase.

Casper reported net revenue of $312.3 million for the first nine months of 2019, up 20.3 percent from $259.7 million for the same period a year prior. The company also reported losses of $67.4 million for the first three quarters ended September 2019–up about 5 percent from the same period in 2018. So while net loss increased, it wasn’t by much, especially considering its revenue growth during the same time frame.

In terms of cash, the company’s free cash flow was -$69.3 million for the first nine months of 2019, compared to -$52.2 million during the same period last year. This can be attributed to more spending in investing activities.

The company says it has expanded its gross margin over time “from 42.8% in 2016 to 44.1% in 2018 and to 50.7% for the three months ended September 30, 2019.”

Funding History

According to Crunchbase data, Casper has raised $339.7 million to date, most recently in a $100 million Series D deal announced in March 2017. The round valued Casper at roughly $1.1 billion, post-money. Crunchbase News covered the round and IPO rumors at the time.

Casper disclosed that entities affiliated with IVP (an investor since Series B), NEA (lead investor in Casper’s Series A), and Red Cart Ventures (the corporate investment arm of Target, which led its Series C round) each hold greater than 5 percent of outstanding shares. Norwest Venture Partners XII and Vaizra US I, LP are also listed as significant investors.

The Risks

Reading through a company’s risk factors is always interesting (so interesting that we picked our favorites from last year’s IPOs). While Casper lists the common risks most companies have to disclose, such as the big one of never turning a profit, it also lists risks that are specific to direct-to-consumer brands, such as the risks, costs and potential regulation of using social media for marketing.

“Use of social media and influencers may materially and adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties,” the company wrote in the filing.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias