AAA Roblox readies billion-dollar IPO

Roblox readies billion-dollar IPO

Roblox Corporation, a US-based video game development platform that counts internet group Tencent as an investor, filed yesterday to raise up to $1bn in an initial public offering.

Founded in 2004, Roblox runs an online game creation system with about 36 million daily active users who can develop their own 3D games and share them with others. Reuters reported earlier this year it was looking to achieve an $8bn valuation in the offering.

The company increased revenue 68% to $588m year on year in the first nine months of this year, though its net loss increased substantially from $46.3m to $203m at the same time.

The prospective valuation would double that of Roblox’s last round, a $150m series G in February this year that pushed its total funding to $550m. It was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Late Stage Venture fund and backed by Tencent, Temasek, Altos Ventures, Meritech Capital and Tiger Global Management

Greylock Partners and Tiger Global had led the company’s $150m series F round in 2018, investing with existing backers Index Ventures, Altos Ventures and Meritech Capital at a reported $2.5bn valuation. Its earlier investors include First Round Capital.

Altos Ventures is Roblox’s largest investor, holding a 21.4% stake pre-IPO, followed by Meritech Capital (10.3%), Index Ventures (9.9%), Tiger Global (7.3%) and First Round (6.3%).

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Securities are joint lead book-running managers for the IPO, which is set to take place on the New York Stock Exchange. Allen & Company, BofA Securities and RBC Capital Markets are book-running managers.

Image courtesy of Roblox Corporation.

By Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.

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