Box, the cloud storage provider, has filed IPO papers, sources claim. If true, this places them ahead of Dropbox as a publicly traded company. Both are expected to go public at some point in time. Should Box actually be first, it gives them a crucial pillar to success in the competitive cloud storage space.
Box is one of the more anticipated tech IPO’s of 2014, along with Dropbox. A provision for those companies which have less than $1 billion in annual revenue to file privately has likely been enacted here, so we’re without proof. In a statement to Quartz, a Box spokesperson refused to comment on a pending IPO.
Box is also reported to have begun lining up funding. Reports suggest they’ve met with Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, and Credit Suisse to underwrite a stock offering. In 2012, they conjured up more than $100 million at a $1 billion-plus valuation. It’s believed the venture-funded Box would seek about $500 million in an IPO.
Box, which began as an enterprise solution, has since become a consumer product. They recently offered up 50GB of storage free to new iOS users, and the Play Store notes that Android users get 10GB free. We like Box for it’s easy to use interface, but upload limits seem to dog them in reviews. Should they start trading publicly, we hope for those wrinkles to be worked out in quick order.
