Square files for $275 million IPO
Square, the mobile payment startup, which partnered notable able partners like Starbucks, Postmates, and Lyft. The founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday to raise up to $275 million in a public offering. The company intends to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “SQ”.
Jack Dorsey is also the CEO of Twitter, which will mean Dorsey will have his job cut out for him. Square revealed in its filing that it lost $154 million in 2014 on net revenue of $850 million, up from a $104 million net loss the year before on net revenue of $552 million. It posted a net loss of $77.6 million through the first six months of this year. Square appears to be losing money from the costly deal between them and Starbucks.
The fact Dorsey is the CEO of two publicly traded companies is a risk to investors. Along with concern around the CEO, Square doesn’t think it will stay profitable as many other technology IPOs.
“The strength of this business is more than the money it generates. The collective power of our millions of sellers sustains a scale from which we can build valuable financial services and marketing services, creating reinforcing and virtuous cycles back to our core business of payments,” Dorsey wrote in a letter to investors included with the filing. “We intend to make this big.”
Square has raised more than $500 in venture capital funds, along with debt financing over the years to keep investors happy and hopefully help them get a return on their investment. With the markets being highly volatile and fluctuating daily, especially with the Chinese and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. However, mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular, with Apple Pay and Android Pay also taking off. Square is becoming a household name at Starbucks, and could partner with more retailers across the nation very soon.
Tell us what you think about Square filing to go public, and if you’d invest in a company that has a CEO who also is a CEO of another company in the comments down below!