DocuSign unveils IPO filing

DocuSign has unveiled its IPO filing, confirming our scoop from last week.

The company had previously filed confidentially and the timing of the filing revelation implies that DocuSign is hoping to go public in late April.

Founded in 2003, the San Francisco-based e-signature company has been an anticipated IPO for a while. It’s raised over $500 million over the past 15 years and has been valued as high as $3 billion.

The filing gives us a first glimpse at the company’s financials.

Last year saw $381.5 million in revenue, up from $250.5 million the year before. Losses for last year were $115.4 million in revenue, down from $122.6 million for 2016.

“We have a history of operating losses and may not achieve or sustain profitability in the future,” the company warned in the requisite “risk factors” section of the prospectus.

The filing reveals that Sigma Partners is the largest shareholder, owning 12.9% of the company. Ignition Partners owns 11.7% and Frazier Technology Ventures owns 7.2%.

Kleiner Perkins also invested and partner Mary Meeker serves on DocuSign’s board, but the firm’s ownership was not high enough to meet the 5% threshold for the filing. The same is also true of Scale Venture Partners, with managing partner Rory O’Driscoll serving on the DocuSign board.

DocuSign, which competes with HelloSign and Adobe Sign, among others, has worked to get the world’s businesses to sign documents online. The group has large clients like T-Mobile, Salesforce, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Real estate, financial services, insurance and healthcare are listed on its site as targeted industries. The company says legal, sales and human resource departments frequently use DocuSign to send and sign documents. It has a tiered business model, with corporations paying more for added services.

DocuSign also offers services for small businesses and individuals.

Jason Lemkin, who co-founded competitor Echo Sign before it was sold to Adobe, told TechCrunch he believes “DocuSign should have a strong run ahead of it. It has a strong brand in a space that is still in early innings, and the category, like Dropbox, is inherently somewhat viral.” He believes DocuSign’s “growth is impressive and tracks the emergence of the market.” Lemkin is no longer involved with Adobe.

DocuSign itself has gone through several management changes. Early last year, Dan Springer took over as CEO, after running Responsys, which went public and then was bought by Oracle for $1.5 billion.

Chairman Keith Krach had been running the company since 2011. Krach was previously CEO of Ariba, which was acquired by SAP for $4.3 billion.