Jamf Files To Go Public

Apple Enterprise Management company Jamf has filed to go public this week, one of the latest in a string of companies looking to IPO.

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Jamf’s cloud software platform lets organizations connect and manage Apple devices. So when you show up on your first day of work and have a new MacBook shrink-wrapped in a box and all set up, it’s probably because Jamf had something to do with it.

Founded in 2002, Jamf isn’t like many of the typical venture-backed startups we’ve seen go public this year. It last raised $30 million in its Series B, led by Summit Partners, in December 2013. Since then, the company has been acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2017–the private equity firm acquired the majority investment in the company for $733.8 million, according to Jamf’s S-1 filing.

Now, it appears Vista Equity Partners is looking to get a return on its investment when Jamf goes public.

Jamf, which is based in Minneapolis, is known for its relationship with Apple, and cites that as one of its strengths.

“We are the only vertically-focused Apple infrastructure and security platform of scale in the world, and we have built our company through a singular focus on being the primary solution for Apple in the enterprise,” Jamf wrote in the filing. “We have a collaborative relationship with Apple which, combined with our accumulated technical experience and expertise, enables us to fully support new Apple innovations and OS releases the moment they are made available by Apple.”

At the same time, it also points out that customer dissatisfaction with Apple, changes in its relationship with Apple, and the fact that it doesn’t have any exclusive arrangements or agreements with Apple are risks the company faces.

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Barclays and Bank of America Securities are among the underwriters for the IPO.

The Numbers

Let’s talk about the money.

Jamf reported $204 million in revenue in 2019, up from $146.6 million in 2018. While its annual revenue grew around 39 percent year over year, its net losses have shrunk by around 10 percent, from $36.3 million in 2018 to $32.6 million in 2019. While the company isn’t profitable, revenue growing while losses shrink is a good thing.

Most recently, the company’s annual recurring revenue was $224.9 million as of March 31, up from $160.6 million as of March 31, 2019.

The company has more than 40,000 customers and more than 100,000 Jamf Nation community members, according to the filing.

Jamf is one of several startups that have recently shown intent to go public after a COVID-19-induced lag in the IPO market. ZoomInfo, Vroom, and most recently Lemonade have all gone public and seen strong support from public market investors.

We’ll see if the same can be said for Jamf.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias