HR Software Maker Workday Files For $400M IPO
Workday, a company offering online tools for enterprises to manage human resources, payroll, and finances, just filed an S-1 form declaring its intention to raise up to $400 million in an IPO.
Reuters reported in July that the company had quietly filed for an IPO but was able to keep the documents secret for a while longer thanks to the JOBS Act. Now it’s official — the S-1 is online, and the details are out.
The filing says that in its most recent fiscal year (ending January 31, 2012), Workday brought in $134.4 million in revenue (an increase of 98 percent year-over-year), with a net loss of $79.6 million.
The company was founded in 2005 (apparently it first incorporated under the name “North Tahoe Power Tools”, which is awesome) by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri, both former executives at PeopleSoft. They’re still the company’s co-CEOs, and the filing says they still control a majority of the voting stock. Investors include Greylock Partners and New Enterprise Associates.
Here’s how the company describes itself:
Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud-based applications for human capital management (HCM), payroll, financial management, time tracking, procurement and employee expense management. We achieved this leadership position through our innovative and adaptable technology, focus on the consumer Internet experience and cloud delivery model. Further, we believe we are the only company to provide this complete set of unified cloud-based applications to enterprises. Our applications are designed for global enterprises to manage complex and dynamic operating environments. We provide our customers highly adaptable, accessible and reliable applications to manage critical business functions that enable them to optimize their financial and human capital resources.
Among the risk factors listed on the filing is the fact that Workday has lost money every year, “and we do not expect to be profitable for the foreseeable future.” Many of the other concerns are pretty much what you’d expect from most companies in the enterprise software-as-a-service market — the “intensely competitive” industry, the risk of a security breach, the long sales cycles, and the dependence on third-party data centers. The company also notes that the majority of revenues come from its Human Capital Management application, rather than the full suite of products.
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