Asana Is Reportedly Planning For A Direct Listing In 2020

By Amit Chowdhry • Dec 9, 2019
  • Productivity software platform company Asana is planning to go public next year. And the company may pursue a direct listing.

Productivity software platform company Asana is reportedly preparing to go public in 2020, according to Financial Times. Asana — which is a $1.5 billion startup launched by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz — is reportedly pursuing a direct listing as it prepares to go public next year.

Earlier this year, Asana said that it cross $100 million in annual recurring revenue. And the company grew over 90% in revenue over the past year. Asana was valued at $1.5 billion after raising a $50 million round of funding in December.

To pursue the listing, Asana has hired Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase. This would enable the company to set up a private share sale for raising money without an IPO. However, the company may still go through a traditional IPO.

If Asana decides to pursue a direct listing, it would follow the same path as Slack and Spotify. A direct listing enabled those companies to sell shares on the public market without fundraising. This method of going public also costs less for the banks involved.