Hootsuite, a Canada-based social media tools provider backed by media corporation Hearst, has revealed it is considering launching an initial public offering in the next 18 to 24 months, Bloomberg has reported.
Ryan Holmes, chief executive of Hootsuite, told Bloomberg it is eager to follow in the footsteps of companies like cloud storage provider Box, which went public in a $175m IPO last month at a valuation of $1.67bn.
Hootsuite offers companies a unified dashboard from which to manage their social media profiles on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr and Flickr.
The company has raised $250m to date, including a $1.9m series A round in 2010 which featured Hearst. Its other investors are Blumberg Capital, Millenium Technology Value Partners, Fidelity Investments, Accel Partners, Insight Venture Partners, Omers Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.