With $1.8B valuation, Etsy is biggest ever NY tech exit

Etsy raised $287 during its IPO, and saw its stock soar 87.5% during its first day of trading

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Etsy, the peer-to-peer marketplace dedicated to selling handmade and vintage items, went public on Thursday, and by all accounts it was a huge success. The company saw its stock go up 87.5% during trading, for a gain of $14 to finish the day at $30 a share.

More importantly, though, it raised $287 million, and jumped its valuation up to $3.5 billion, up from $1.8 billion before trading, a number that now makes it the biggest venture capital backed tech exit to come out of New York City, according to a report from CB Insights.

In December, OnDeck Captial took that prize, with a valuation of $1.32 billion, but was bested only four months later. Other big New York exits include Tumblr, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2013 for $1.1 billion; Right Media, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2007 for $850 million; and Buddy Media, which was bought by Salesforce in 2012 for $745 millon.

This is another sign of New York's domination over all other cities, except for Silicon Valley.

In its 2015 Tech IPO Pipeline report, CB Insights found that New York now counts 57% more Tech IPO Pipeline companies than its rival tech hub Massachusetts.

Perhaps Etsy's success will revitalize the IPO pipeline, which has looked fairly bleak this year, but may be turning around with GoDaddy and Etsy both going public this quarter, and e-commerce site Shopify also filing to do so earlier this week. 

With 34 IPOs raising $5.4 billion, the first quarter of 2015 turned out to be the least active quarter by IPO count since the first quarter of 2013, and the smallest by proceeds raised since the third quarter of 2011. To compare: the first quarter of 2014 saw 64 deals, and $10.6 billion raised. 

Etsy still has some problems on the horizon, though. Namely that the company still isn't profitable.

The company made $195.59 million in revenue in 2014, up from $125 million in 2013 and $75.6 million in 2012. The majority of that money, $108.7 million, comes from its marketplace, charging users to list goods and then a percentage of the profit when they are sold. Another $82.5 million comes from "seller services," which include features like direct checkout and shipping.

At the same time, though, Etsy has seen its losses mount up as well: going up to $15.2 million, up from $2.3 million in 2012. In 2013 its net loss went all the way down to just $796,000 before jumping back up in 2014.

The main drag on its revenue is coming from general and administrative costs, which were nearly $52 million in 2014. The company also spent $39.7 million on marketing and $36.7 on product development.

Founded in June 2005 in Brooklyn, New York,  Etsy raised over $97 million in venture capital funding from investors that included Glynn Capital Management, Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Accel Partners, Hubert Burda Media and Acton Capital Partners.

(Image source: peers.org)