levie2
Box CEO Aaron Levie speaking at GeekWire Startup Day.

Box, the Los Altos, California-based online storage company that was started by Mercer Island High School grads Dylan Smith and Aaron Levie, today filed for a $250 million IPO.

The filing shows a $169 million loss off $124.2 million in revenue for the year ended on Jan. 31, 2014. Revenue grew 110 percent from the year prior, while losses increased by $57 million.

It’s worth noting that sales and marketing expenses surpassed $171 million during the same time period, up 73 percent from the year prior. Box currently has $109 million in cash on hand.

“We have a history of cumulative losses, and we do not expect to be profitable for the foreseeable future,” notes the S-1 filing.

The company, which competes with Dropbox but focuses more on enterprise, also noted that it has 25 million users and 34,000 paying organizations. Box will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under “BOX.”

boxBox is often referred to in Seattle as the “startup that got away,” since Levie and Smith moved the company to Silicon Valley shortly after it was started.

Levie commented about that move in a guest post on GeekWire in 2011, writing that the company ran into challenges trying to raise cash in Seattle.

“Given the previous summer’s experience – running dry of contacts in the investor community, attending a few eerily quiet technology meetups, and making acquaintances with a disappointingly low number of like-minded and like-aged entrepreneurs (maybe a total of 1) – we knew right away that northern California was our next and best shot. And it lived up to nearly every expectation we had,” wrote Levie, who remains connected to the Seattle area with family in the region.

Box’s backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, New Enterprise Associates, Bessemer Venture Partners and Meritech Capital Partners.

Check out the company’s financials below:

boxipostats

And here’s a breakdown of ownership:

boxipo1

Finally, here’s a tweet from Levie this afternoon:

PreviouslyGuess who’s advising Box: Ex-Microsoft exec Sinofsky helping Levie and teamBox CEO Aaron Levie on how Microsoft needs to change (No, he’s not up for the job)… Commentary: Why we had to leave Seattle to build Box.net

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.