Aerohive Networks Files For $75 Million IPO

Aerohive, a company that sells Wi-Fi products to enterprise customers, has today filed to go public. The company’s proposed $75 million public offering is not unexpected. It spoke directly about a future flotation when it raised its Series E round of capital ($22.5 million) in 2012.

Aerohive went back to the well a final time, picking up $10 million as a Series F in mid-2013.

The initial public offering has not been priced, nor have the number of shares to be sold been disclosed. Aerohive reiterated this in a short statement. It will trade with the ticker symbol HIVE on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company raised more than $100 million on its path to IPO. Its investors include Northern Light, Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins, and New Enterprise Associates.

Aerohive has experienced quick growth and widening losses, due in no small part to its growing marketing spend. That expense isn’t surprising, given that the company appears to have worked to expand its top line at the fastest pace possible, even taking on $10 million in debt along the way.

Revenue at the firm was $15.6 million in 2010, $31.8 million in 2011, $66.6 million in 2012, and for the first nine months of 2013, $70.3 million. In the comparable nine-month period of 2012, Aerohive had top line of $47.3 million. So, for the first three quarters of 2013, Aerohive grew just under 50 percent.

That quick top line ramp came at a price for the firm, which saw its net loss grow from $15.7 million in the first three quarters of 2012 to $25.4 million in the comparable period of 2013. Presumably, the company will update its S-1 filing with fourth quarter, and therefore full-year 2013 data. For now, we can only view dated information.

Operating expenses were up 60 percent at the company in the first three quarters of 2013. The company indicates in its filing that it has never had a quarter, let alone a year, of profitability.

Quickly expanding revenue and rising losses? Investors that buy into its offering will be wagering that its growth will not slow, and presumably dollars raised from the public markets will help the company grow all the more quickly.

Aerohive is not the only technology company looking to go public at the moment. Box has filed for a public offering, as well, albeit privately.

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