US-based online survey platform SurveyMonkey confidentially filed for an initial public offering yesterday that would enable internet and technology group Alphabet to exit.
SurveyMonkey operates a subscription service that allows clients to create surveys that can be distributed through a range of channels including email, web, social media, online chat and mobile platforms. The feedback can then be scoured using its data analytics tools.
The company was acquired by private equity firm Spectrum Equity in 2009 but spun back out in 2013. It last raised funding in a $250m round in 2014 that included CapitalG, the corporate venturing subsidiary of Alphabet then known as Google Capital, and which valued it at $2bn.
Tiger Global Management, T. Rowe Price, Iconiq Capital, Social Capital, Laurel Crown Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Baillie Gifford, then CEO Dave Goldberg and private investors Ryan and Chris Finley also took part in the 2014 round.
CapitalG, Tiger Global and Goldberg had previously participated in the $444m equity portion of a round the year before that totalled $800m once debt had been added.
Salesforce Ventures, part of customer relationship management software provider Salesforce, is also a SurveyMonkey backer but has not revealed when it invested. The unit has already exited two other enterprise software companies, Dropbox and DocuSign, through big IPOs in 2018.
SurveyMonkey has not disclosed details of the underwriters hired for the offering, though its preparations were initially reported in January this year.