The Zynga-Less IPO Pipeline

Jay Yarow of Business Insider frustratingly tweeted, “Soooooooooooo. Zynga IPO filing. Awkward. Sort of feel stood up over here,” during the San Francisco Chronicle’s Casey Newton asked, “Is it possible Zynga has hidden its S-1 somewhere within Farmville?”

Which company could amass a valuation of $1 billion-plus among the current crop of IPOs? No doubt daily deal site Groupon will if it succeeds — estimates have pegged its worth at anywhere between $10 billion and $25 billion, depending on who you ask. Kayak Software, the profitable travel-comparison site that made $171 million in revenue last year, could come somewhat close, afterwards valuing itself at near $500 million one year ago. At the time there’s the second largest revenue-generator on the list afterwards Groupon (even if as well unprofitable), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service provider Broadview Networks, which has raised so then over $300 million in venture capital.

Excluding the six companies that haven’t posted their 2010 results, just 14 of 39 companies scored a profit in 2010. Of the 26 research and services companies reporting 2010 financials, 10 were profitable last year. As we’ve pointed out, profitability in effect does matter for research IPOs.

At least 13 companies had more than $100 million in revenue, during 25 clocked $50 million in revenue. The top-revenue generator by a long way is Groupon, with $713 million — although it’s nevertheless in the red.

Internet bubble? It undoubtedly doesn’t seem that way in IPO land, for the moment not but – in spite of Wall Street placing oversized valuations on LinkedIn and Pandora, we haven’t but seen a steady drumbeat of consumer Internet IPO filings. As a matter of fact, only two such companies, Groupon and housing site Zillow, filed in the second quarter.

The majority of companies

The majority of companies, not surprisingly, are in the information research realm, with five software and five semiconductor companies leading the charge, mixed in with data storage and communications equipment makers. The biopharma industry all in all has a good share of companies in registration, however they’re having a tough time going out — only two did so in the second quarter. At the time there’s the once-hot renewable energy sector, with just three companies in the pipeline: BrightSource Energy, Enphase Energy and Luca Technologies.