What Honest's $100M means for their IPO

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 announced their long-anticipated Series D last night, raising $100 million to increase their valuation to $1.7 billion.

 

Despite 70 percent of the company’s sales coming from their e-commerce site, Honest has seen a surge in growth since entering stores like Target and Whole Foods. Their revenue increased by $60 million in 2014 and in July they signed a lease for 83,000 square feet office space in Playa Vista. 

 

But what does this mean for their IPO? At SXSW in March, CEO and co-founder Brian Lee said the company was eyeing an IPO, but contrary to the speculation, going public within a year of raising a large round has not historically been the trend. 

 

The momentum and confidence created while raising capital could be a contributing factor as to why so many CEOs begin to eye Wall Street after a Series D or E. A few months ago both Snapchat and NantHealth raised north of $200 million, yet their respective CEOs, Evan Spiegel and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, publicly addressed their plans for an IPO shortly after the announcements.  Perhaps LA tech companies are simply padding their valuation before entering the dangerous waters of the stock market.  

 

Regardless of when Honest decides to go public, yesterday’s funding continues an astounding upward trend for the eco-friendly online retailer created by Jessica Alba, Christopher Gavigan, Brian Lee, and Sean Kane.