Irvine-based smart technology provider Greenwave Systems Inc. is exploring an initial public offering.
The company, which was established in 2008, confirmed to the Business Journal that it has hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser in the process.
“Greenwave is having conversations around different kinds of growth strategies, so that we can make the most informed decision,” founder and Chief Executive Martin Manniche said. “Knowing all the options is always the best strategy.”
The company as of press time hadn’t filed a registration statement or other documents related to an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The tech IPO market is the driest it’s been in years, with only a handful of venture-backed companies going public this year. There have been 15 tech-related IPOs so far this year compared with 23 last year, and 48 in 2014, according to Norwalk, Conn.-based industry tracker FactSet.
Irvine-based Vizio Inc. last year filed a registration statement to raise up to $172.5 million in a public offering, but in July agreed to a $2 billion sale to LeEco, a conglomerate based in China.
Logistics software maker Telogis Inc. in Aliso Viejo also had eyed a possible IPO, but in June announced a pending sale to Verizon Inc. that industry watchers pegged at about $1 billion.
Greenwave’s AXON hardware and software suite allows businesses to deploy their own systems to manage services remotely for the Internet of Things, a booming segment that enables connected devices to communicate with each other through a web browser, smartphone or tablet.
The company posted revenue of $52.4 million in the 12 months through June, up 100% from two years earlier. The percentage jump placed Greenwave at No. 24 among midsized companies—those between $10 million and $100 million in annual sales—on the Business Journal’s annual list of the fastest-growing private companies published last month.
Internet of Things
Greenwave’s technology allows users to easily program LED lighting systems, sensors and other products through a smartphone, tablet or web browser, and automate custom settings.
Its software and connectivity services have been adopted in next-generation Internet of Things systems, routers, videos and wireless products as it further diversifies into the machine-to-machine market.
Big customers include Aurora, Ohio-based Technical Consumer Products Inc., which ships about 1.5 billion bulbs annually through big-box retailers and other channels, and German energy provider E.ON SE, which relies on Greenwave’s technology in its smart meters in customers’ homes.
The company also has developed high-speed routers for Verizon Communications Inc.
Greenwave, which has raised about $92 million in venture capital, expects to hit a revenue run rate of $100 million next year.
Predixion
Indications of an IPO in the offing follow a local acquisition.
Its recent buy of Predixion Software in Aliso Viejo brings key cloud-based analytics software that’s particularly beneficial “at the edge,” a term that refers to devices or sensors that generate data on their performance and operations in the field in real time.
The technology is billed as identifying potential failures, solving burgeoning problems and reducing unplanned downtime.
Terms of Greenwave’s acquisition of Predixion remain undisclosed, with indications of a fire sale.
Predixion raised $40 million in venture capital funding since its start in 2009, but the company’s sale brought no payout for equity investors, according to documents obtained by the Business Journal.
Predixion’s roster of local backers included Toba Capital in Newport Beach; Corona del Mar-based Miramar Venture Partners; Frost Data Capital in San Juan Capistrano; and Palomar Ventures, which has offices in Irvine, Santa Monica and San Mateo.
A unit of Predixion focused on software for healthcare businesses was not included in the deal.
Moving Forward
Predixion founder Simon Arkell is now Greenwave’s general manager of software platforms and analytics.
Predixion staffers are in the process of moving to Greenwave’s new 22,000-square-foot headquarters on the 15th floor at the recently opened, glass-sheathed 200 Spectrum Center, OC’s tallest office building.
Greenwave plans to employ about 90 in Irvine and more than 300 companywide by the end of the year as it continues a hiring push to meet strong demand and scale.
