No reservation required: OpenTable to make first venture-backed IPO of 2009
At a time when people are cutting back on expenses - and eating out less - online restaurant reservation company OpenTable is planning to go public. It will be the first technology company initial public offering of the new year, as well as the first in many months.
The company works with more than 10,000 restaurants, using a combination of software and hardware to allow people to make online and mobile reservations. It made $41.3 million in revenue through September 30 of last year, a sharp increase over the previous year, according the IPO filing (available here, with excerpts below).
Indeed, last June Matt Marshall conservatively estimated the company was making nearly $15 million a year with the potential to be a $100 million company based on its growth. It charges $1 per diner seated through its web site, and $0.25 per diner if the OpenTable reservation is made through a restaurant’s own site, along with other reservation-related revenue streams.
