Roku Inc. might go public soon, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The maker of the set-top box which uses the Internet to stream videos, such as from Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and streams them to users’ televisions, recently spoke to banks about the possibility of going public but is yet to select a lead writer to handle the offering, the report said.
Roku is best known for its streaming boxes which compete with Apple Inc’s (AAPL) Apple TV as well as with Google’s (GOOG) lightweight, low-price Chromecast. The Saratoga, Calif.-based start-up is currently working with U.S. cable operators such as Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC) to let users stream their cable TV through the box.
Researcher Parks Associates said last year that among U.S. households with a streaming media system, 37% used Roku hardware while 24% had an Apple TV. That’s a significant market share to have which suggests that an IPO move from the biggest streaming-only device on the market wouldn’t be entirely unexpected.
Media giant Hearst Corp. and an unidentified institutional investor poured $60 million into Roku last May, according to the report. The company has raised a total of $127 million in funding from Netflix Inc (NFLX), News Corp. (NWSA), British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc, Globespan Capital Partners, and others.
Wallstreepit has reached out to Roku Inc. for comment on its initial public offering plans, and we’ll update this post with any additional information we learn.
Update: Roku spokeswoman Tricia Mifsud declined to comment to Wallstreetpit on the company’s future plans to go public, saying the company is a “privately held company, and as a matter of policy [does] not comment publicly about [its] future financing plans”.
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