Online-polling provider SurveyMonkey files for IPO

Online-polling company SurveyMonkey has filed for a U.S. initial public offering of stock, saying it has more than half a million paying customers.

The company, under its official name Svmk Inc., filed Wednesday with an initial offering size of $100 million, typically a placeholder amount that probably will change. SurveyMonkey plans on using the proceeds to pay down income tax obligations related to a restricted stock unit settlement, for working capital and for general purposes such as acquisitions and technological investment.

Founded almost two decades ago, SurveyMonkey had more than 16 million active users in the last year, according to the filing. The company, based in San Mateo, Calif., said more than 600,000 of its total users pay for its services.

In the first half of 2018, SurveyMonkey’s net loss increased to $27.2 million from $19.1 million in the same period last year.

In 2017 it had a net loss of $24 million on revenue of $218.8 million. That compared with a net loss of $76.4 million on $207.3 million in revenue in 2016.

Tiger Global Management holds the largest stage in the company, with 29% of the stock before the IPO.

The Sheryl K. Sandberg Revocable Trust holds a 10% stake, and Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is on the board. Her late husband, David Goldberg, was SurveyMonkey’s chief executive.

Tennis champion Serena Williams and Intuit Inc. CEO Brad Smith joined the board last year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Allen & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are leading the offering. The company has applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SVMK.