Etsy may go public as soon as this quarter, with plans to raise up to $300 million, reports Bloomberg, citing a source familiar with the deal.
If the report is true, the online retailer, known for selling arts and crafts, would be the first major e-commerce company to go public this year. In 2014, e-commerce companies raised a jaw-dropping $29 billion in IPOs, mostly thanks to Alibaba, which raised all but $4 billion of that.
Etsy, which is based in Brooklyn, New York, declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report.
The company’s business model more closely resembles eBay than Amazon because it operates a marketplace, where sellers hawking crafts or homemade goods are connected with buyers seeking something a little different.
A quick look at today’s trending items reveals a coin purse shaped like a cat and a set of knitted booties for a new mom and her young son or daughter.
The 10-year-old company posted $1.35 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2013, up from a couple hundred million in 2009, according to its website.
Etsy’s marketplace, which currently has 26 million listings, includes a 20 cent fee for each item listed and a 3.5 percent fee for each sale. Additional revenue comes from seller services, including advertising, payment processing and discounted shipping labels.
The company has been profitable since 2009 and has raised $92 million in funding to date, according to BusinessInsider. A prospectus containing more financial details could be filed as soon as this month.