ANOTHER TECH IPO YOU HAVEN’T BEEN WAITING FOR
by Peter Kafka
All Things Digital (blog)
January 29, 2010 at 9:12 AM PT
123Facebook is officially out of the running for a 2010 IPO, and it’s
a good bet that other sort-of candidates like Zynga are going to be
waiting for a while, too.
So if you really want to make a bet on a Webby public offering in
the near future, you’re going to have to wager on companies with
a…less impressive pedigree. Companies like FriendFinder Networks,
which runs a collection of porn sites and niche social networks,
or Vringo, which is ostensibly in the ringtone business and wants to
raise $64 million to keep going.
UPDATE: Vringo notes that it is only looking to sell $13.8 million
worth of shares and warrants in its initial offering, but that
conversion of warrants could eventually generate tens of millions more.
How can ringtones still be a business in 2010? For Vringo, they aren’t:
The company has been giving them away for free, though it hopes to
start selling them soonish.
Better hurry. Vringo has raised $17.5 million since 2006, and has
burned through almost all of that. Total revenue so far: $36,000,
generated by a partner in Armenia. PaidContent has more details from
the S-1.