AI-based software firm WalkMe files for Nasdaq IPO

WalkMe Ltd., a maker of software that helps website owners and software developers create interactive on-screen guidance for users to complete complex tasks, said Tuesday it has filed a preliminary prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of shares on the Nasdaq.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined, WalkMe said in a statement, adding that the securities would start trading under the symbol WKME.

In the preliminary prospectus dated May 17 filed with the SEC, the company said revenue for 2020 surged 41% to $148.3 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, revenue rose 25% to $42.7 million, compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Net loss for the full year 2020 narrowed to $45 million from a loss of $50.1 million in 2019.

“We believe that digital adoption represents a vast, rapidly growing and under penetrated market opportunity today, and we estimate our total addressable market opportunity to be approximately $34 billion. As the pioneer and market leader in this category, we believe that we are well-positioned to capture a substantial portion of this large opportunity over time,” the company said in the filing.

Among the risks facing the firm are the fact that the markets for its products “are new and evolving and may develop more slowly or differently than we expect. Our future success depends on the growth and expansion of these markets and our ability to adapt and respond effectively to evolving market conditions.”

The Tel Aviv-based company, founded in 2011 by CEO Dan Adika, president Rephael Sweary and Eyal Cohen, has raised $308 million to date from investors including Vitruvian Partners, Insight Partners and Singapore’s EDBI, Greenspring Associates, Vitruvian Partners, Scale Ventures, Mangrove, and Gemini.

The company did not indicate the valuation it is seeking via the IPO but the firm was valued at $1.9 billion in its last financing round in 2019, Globes financial website said. In February, Calcalist financial website said the firm was seeking to go public at a valuation of some $4 billion.