AAA Poshmark plans autumn IPO

Poshmark plans autumn IPO

US-based fashion e-commerce platform Poshmark is readying an initial public offering that will allow home builder JF Shea to exit, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The company has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as underwriters for an IPO that could take place as soon as Q3 2019, according to people familiar with the matter. It was valued at almost $600m when it last raised funding, Reuters reported.

Poshmark runs a social commerce platform where users can buy and sell clothing, jewellery and accessories through virtual sale events called Posh Parties. It also sells new products from some 5,000 brands and hosts a total of roughly 25 million items.

The proposed offering would come after the company made a small loss in 2018 from nearly $150m in revenue, according to the WSJ. It has raised almost $160m in venture capital, most recently securing $87.5m in a late 2017 series D round.

Singaporean government-owned investment firm Temasek led the series D, which also featured GGV Capital, Inventus Capital, Uncork Capital, Mayfield Fund, Menlo Ventures, Union Grove Venture Partners and Cross Creek Advisors.

Shea Ventures, JF Shea’s corporate venturing unit, first invested in Poshmark as part of a $25m series C round in 2015 that included Inventus Capital, Mayfield Fund, Menlo Ventures, Union Grove and SoftTech VC.

All the 2015 investors returned for another $25m round the following year that was led by GGV Capital and also backed by AngelList.

Photo courtesy of Poshmark Inc.

By Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *