Roku gears up for IPO

Roku is reportedly working on plans to file confidentially for an initial public offering, in a move that could see the firm raise up to US$150 million. 

According to a Wall Street Journal report, which cites people familiar with the plan, Roku has been working to prepare for a potential offering with banks including Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup.

However, the report claims that neither the timing of the stock market floatation or the valuation price Roku will aim for have yet been set.

Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood said back in March 2012, while attending the FT Digital Media conference in London, that “our goal as a company is to go public” after it had raised more financing. He declined to give a timescale for the IPO.

Earlier this month, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed Roku has raised US$25 million in funding.

This came shortly after BSkyB said it had made a further US$0.7 million investment in Roku. At the same time, 21st Century Fox said it had also made a further, undisclosed, equity investment in the firm.

In September Roku announced it had sold more than 10 million streaming players in the US since launching in 2008.