Klaviyo And Instacart File Going-Public Plans, Kickstarting IPO Market

Grocery delivery company Instacart and marketing and data automation startup Klaviyo on Friday became the first two major venture-backed companies to file IPO plans in 2023.

The filings come amid an almost two-year drought for significant tech IPOs. On Monday, SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm Holdings also filed plans for an IPO that could net a valuation as high as $70 billion.

While Arm’s IPO would be much larger, startups and venture capitalists are likely to view Instacart and Klaviyo — both of which have received significant venture investment — as bellwethers for a startup IPO market rebound.

Venture investors have poured nearly $900 billion into close to 1,500 billion-dollar-plus-valued startups, many of which have lingered on the private markets for years as they wait for the IPO window to reopen.

Instacart files long-awaited IPO plans

Instacart — now a decade old — illustrates the rocky path that late-stage startups have traversed in recent years. It raised its most recent funding in 2021, at the height of the funding boom, at a lofty $39 billion valuation.

But as pandemic-era consumer spending patterns fade, Instacart has reportedly cut its internal valuation multiple times, most recently slashing it to $13 billion.

In its filing on Friday, the company revealed $1.48 billion in revenue in the first half 2023 and said it’s been profitable for five consecutive quarters.

Its major investors over the years include Sequoia Capital, which led its $8.5 million Series A in 2013, and Andreessen Horowitz, which led its $45 million Series B. Kleiner Perkins led Instacart’s $220 million Series C. Coatue led its Series E, and Tiger Global Management and D1 Capital Partners its Series F.

Instacart plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CART.

Klaviyo reveals profitability

Boston-based Klaviyo revealed that it’s profitable and that revenue rose 51% in the most recent quarter.

The marketing automation company has raised close to $780 million from venture investors, per Crunchbase data. It was most recently valued at about $10 billion.

In its filing, Klaviyo didn’t reveal details such as the size or timing of its IPO, but Reuters has previously reported that the company aims to raise at least $750 million when it lists on the New York Stock Exchange.

Klaviyo, which helps e-commerce brands analyze their data and use it to send personalized marketing messages to consumers, said it has 130,000 customers as of June 30. It turned a profit of $15 million on $321 million in revenue in the first half of the year — up 54% versus a year earlier.

Its most recent funding round was a $100 million investment led by e-commerce giant Shopify a year ago that valued it at close to $10 billion. Other investors in the company, founded in 2012, include Summit Partners, Accel, Owl Rock Capital and Whale Rock Capital Management.

Klaviyo plans to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol KVYO.