The $1B valuation club became super crowded in 2014

Steven Loeb · January 14, 2015 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/3b68

All told, 38 companies joined, including JustFab, Tango, Snapdeal, Delivery Hero, Docusign and Houzz

There's something about number: $1 billion. When a company reaches that height something changes; obviously the company was already successful, and had been for a while, but it becomes impossible to ignore when that threshold is crossed.

Plus, it automatically get added to the "potential upcoming IPO" lists.

As more money is being pumped into venture capital, though, valuations are quickly inflating. As Founder's Fund managing partner Peter Thiel said at Vator's Post Seed Conference last month, his investment in Facebook was at a $5 million valuation, but today that same investment would be in a company that was worth at least $50 million, if not $100 million.

"If you look at Y Combinator, in 05 or 06 you could invest in companies end up being Y Combinator at valuations of $1.5 million to $2 million. Fast forward eight or nine years, it's close to 8 to 10x of what it was eight years ago," he said.

With valuations jumping so high, the $1 billion club is getting easier and easier to get into. In 2014 alone, 38 different companies entered the $1 billion club, according to a report from CB Insights. That is more than the three previous years, when only 22 companies made it combined.

Here are some of the companies that crossed that threshold in 2014:

  • AppDynamics

The application performance management company raised $120 million in a round led by new investors Battery Ventures, ClearBridge Investments and Sands Capital in July. Existing investors Greylock Partners,Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Instiutional Venture Partners also participated. The round also included $50 million in debt financing, which was provided by Silicon Valley Bank.

AppDynamics has raised $157 million in total, and it took the company six and half years to get to $1 billion.

  • AppNexus 

The adtech company raised $60 million from an unknown investor in August. It had previously raised around $140 million in venture capital, most recently taking in $75 million in January of 2013. Previous investors in the company include Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) Venrock, Tribeca Venture Partners, Kodiak Venture Partners and First Round Capital. In all it raised $225 million.

It took AppNexus seven years to get there.

  • Credit Karma

Personal finance platform Credit Karma raised $75 million in September, from existing investors Google Capital, Tiger Global Management and Susquehanna Growth Equity.

The company had previously raised $118.5 million in funding, including an $85 million round in March of last year, giving it a total of $194 million.

It took five years to bet to the $1 billion valuation.

  • Delivery Hero

The company's $350 million round in September put it over the top. The round was led by existing investors, including Insight Venture Partners, Kite Ventures and a new investor, Vostok Nafta.

The food delivery network raised a total of $523 million last year in three rounds. First it raised $88 million from Insight Venture Partners in January, followed by another $85 million in a Series F round that was led by Luxor Capital Group in April.

In all, it raised $657 in funding over a four-year period.

  • DocuSign 

E-signature company DocuSign raised an $85 million round  in March and a $30 million round in October.

The company had previously raised $125 million in four rounds of funding from investors that included the National Association of Realtors, Google Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, SAP Ventures, Salesforce, Comcast, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Accel Partners, giving it more than $230 million in total to date.

It took DocuSign 10 years to reach the $1 billion threshold. 

  • Eventbrite

The online ticketing service took a $60 million round from Tiger Global Management and T. Rowe Price, in March. Previous investors included Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures and SoftTech VC.

The round gave it a total of $168 million raised, the company reached  $1 billion after 6 years of fundraising. 

(Note: Eventbrite founders Kevin Hartz and Julia Hartz were keynote speakers at Vator Splash London in 2014. You can watch their presentation here)

  • Hootsuite

Social media management company Hootsuite raised $60 million from Accel PartnersInsight Venture Partners and OMERS Ventures, as well as technology lender Silicon Valley Bank in September.

The company had $190 million in funding, previously raising $165 million in August of 2013. Previous investors included Fidelity Investments, Hearst Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Millennium Technology Value Partners and Geoff Entress.

Hootsuite’s total funding to date is $227 million. It took the company five years to reach $1 billion.

  • Houzz 

The home decor site raised $150 million at a $2B+ valuation in June,.

The company previously raised $46.6 million from Sequoia Capital, NEA, Yammer founder David Sacks, GGV Capital, Comcast Ventures, Paul Hsiao and more.

In all, it took Houzz four years to get there.

  • JustFab

The subscription e-commerce company raised $85 million in August, in a round led by Passport Special Opportunity Fund, with participation from existing investors such as Matrix Partners and Shining Capital.

The company had previously raised $164 million altogether, including a $40 million Series C round in September 2013, as well as a $15 million follow-on in December. Other previous investors in the company include Rho Ventures and Intelligent Beauty.

JustFab's total funding is $300 million, and it got that over three years.

(Note: JustFab CEO Adam Goldenberg will be speaking at Vator Splash Oakland On April 23rd. Get your tickets here.) 

  • Kabam

The mobile gaming raised $120 million from Chinese Internet giant Alibaba in August.

In all it has raised $245 million from investors that have included Redpoint Ventures, Intel Capital, Canaan Partners, Google Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures, Performance Equity and SK Telecom Ventures.

That money was raised over a period of seven years.

  • Slack

The workplace collaboration company raised a $120 million round led by new investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures, along with previous backers, in October.

This new funding came just six months after the company raised $42.75 million. Slack has now raised a total of $180 million from investors that include The Social + Capital Partnership, Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.

The company took four and half years to reach $1 billion.

  • Snapdeal

Indian e-commerce company raised at least $860 million in four rounds in 2014. 

The first investment in the company was in a round led by eBay in February, in which it invested $133.7 million. The round also included Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital. That was then followed by another $100 million from Temasek, BlackRock, Myriad, Premji Invest and Tybourne in May, and then an undisclosed personal investmentfrom Ratan Tata in August.

The company has raised over $1 billion in funding, and it took only three and half years to reach a $1 billion valuation.

  • Tango

The mobile video chat app raised $280 million in May. Of that investment, $215 million came from Alibaba, with the other $65 million from previous investors.

Tango has previously raised $85 million in total, including $42 million in July 2011 and then another $40 million in a Series C funding in April 2012. Investors in the company include Access Industries, DFJ, Qualcomm Ventures, Toms Capital and Translink Capital, as well as Bill Tai, Shimon Weintraub, Jerry Yang, Alex Zubillaga and others.

It took only three and half years for Tango to raise $365 million at a $1 billion valuation.

(Image source: quickmeme.com)

Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

Kabam

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Description

Kabam is an interactive entertainment company leading the next wave in social gaming, developing and publishing massively multiplayer social games (MMSG’s), including the popular and critically praised title Kingdoms of Camelot and Dragons of Atlantis. Our studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of players looking for deeper, more engaging social games. The first wave of Kabam’s new games for Facebook and leading media sites have been widely recognized for their depth of play and social interaction.

Kabam started out as Watercooler, whose aim was to make connecting with your friends, family, and other fans of your favorite TV shows or Sports teams more compelling than ever before. By bringing fan communities into the context of your social network, Watercooler enables more engaging sports and TV fan experiences. Fans are able to access Watercooler's FanSection and TVLoop communities no matter where they are on the web: Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Hi5, MyYahoo, and TVLoop.com.  Over 35 million sports and TV fans have joined Watercooler's fan applications  making it the largest online fan community.

Company History
Kabam was founded by a team of social networking and community software professionals in Mountain View, CA, in 2006. The company has raised a Series A round of financing from Canaan Partners of Menlo Park, CA.

Eventbrite, Inc.

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Eventbrite is the world’s largest self-service ticketing platform, and enables people all over the world to plan, promote, and sell out any event. The online event registration service has helped organizers process over 130 million tickets in 179 countries, and makes it easy for everyone to discover and share the events with people they know. In this way, Eventbrite brings communities together by encouraging people to connect through live experiences. Eventbrite's investors include DAG Ventures, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Tenaya Capital and Tiger Global. Learn more at www.eventbrite.com.

JustFab

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

JustFab (www.JustFab.com) is an online fashion styling service and
lifestyle fashion brand that offers members a fun and engaging personalized
shopping experience. Members of the fashion service are given the celebrity
treatment every month as they receive a customized selection of shoes and
handbags, handpicked by stylists, along with the JustFab basics of denim and
other fashion essentials. VIP members can purchase items for $39.95 and
shipping is always free.

Tango

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Founded in September 2009, Tango is a free mobile video calling service that connects family and friends wherever they are. Tango offers high-quality video calling for iOS and Android devices and works over 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi. More than 10 million people in 190 countries are using Tango to communicate every day, stay connected, and share special moments as they happen. Download the Tango application for free in the App Store and Android Market. Tango is based in Palo Alto, California.

24387

Kevin Hartz

Joined Vator on

24551

Julia Hartz

Joined Vator on

114107

Adam Goldenberg

Joined Vator on