Wix IPO on NASDAQ

Wix, the platform that helps businesses build and maintain websites, raised $122m in its NASDAQ IPO yesterday (6th November 2013). Shares were trading at $17.10 this morning, valuing the company at $770m. One of the founder investors in the Enterprise 5 Investor Club (advised by D5 Capital) was an early investor in Wix, which has delivered a return of 40x on the original investment, made in 2007.

Wix, which sells its cloud-based templates to design websites to small business owners, said revenue grew to $43.7 million in 2012 from $24.6 million in 2011. It had a net loss of $17.8 million in the first nine months of 2013, compared with a loss of $11.5 million in 2012 as marketing expenses jumped.

In the first nine months of 2013 revenue rose to $55.5 million.

“We are growing more than 80 percent year over year,” Chief Financial Officer Lior Shemesh told Reuters. He declined to give a forecast but said Wix will maintain a high growth rate.

The company, whose App Market allows companies to install more than 140 different apps on their websites, said over 40 million businesses, organisations, professionals and individuals used its platform. The company is adding about 1 million users per month, Shemesh said.

Some of the proceeds from the IPO will go to selling shareholders but Wix expects over $100 million to go to the company, including the greenshoe.