Picture perfect: Pinterest confidentially files for IPO

Pinterest has reportedly filed for an initial public offering (IPO), as Silicon Valley gears up for a busy year of tech startup listings.

The online image search platform, known for the food and fashion photos its users post, is planning for a late-June listing and is seeking a valuation of at least $12bn, it is reported.

The news, first reported in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, comes weeks after the San Francisco-based company hired Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to advise on its listing.

The company could raise up to $1.5bn in the float, according to Reuters.

Pinterest is the latest of several multi-billion-dollar Silicon Valley listings expected for 2019.

Ride-hailing services Lyft and Uber both confidentially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December, with the latter now expected to go public as soon as March.

Other Silicon Valley startups such as Airbnb and Slack are considering foregoing Wall Street underwriters and listing directly to the public, similar to Spotify’s record-setting $26.5bn direct float last year.

Pinterest has grown rapidly since its start in 2010, boasting 250m monthly active users last September.

Research firm Emarketer estimates that the company will generate more than $1.2bn in US advertising revenue in 2021, up from $553m last year.

Pinterest monetises its website through advertisements, which it places among the “pins” that users put on the site.

Let's block ads! (Why?)