“Slack goes public in 2019 and assumes a valuation of 10 billion dollars.

Slack is going to take a step that analysts have long believed it was getting ready for: it will go public next year. It is reported that Slack has now hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to lead the IPO.

This is reported by Reuters press agency based on sources within the business messaging platform. Reuters’ sources also report that the company is hoping for a valuation well in excess of $10 billion. This makes Slack the next company from Silicon Valley to make its debut in the stock market in 2019. Other internet companies are Airbnb, analytics firm Palantir Technologies and Stripe, which processes digital payments.

Eight million

Slack is based in San Francisco and Vancouver and last May it announced that it had eight million daily active users. Of these, three million had a subscription, for which they paid a monthly amount of money. How many there are now is not certain, but presumably the number has increased.

However, it is not easy for Slack to acquire new customers. There are several hijackers on the coast. For example, Microsoft Teams is a direct competitor that is also doing well. In addition, various other services, including Google Hangouts and Facebook Workplace, are also trying to acquire a substantial share.

Make substantial investments

Slack hopes to raise a lot of money through the IPO. It can then invest in new functions, keeping it competitive. Last August, a major investment round took place, raising 427 million dollars. At that time, SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Dragonsee’s Investment Group and General Atlantic, among others, invested in the company.

Slack has thousands of customers, including Airbnb, Time, Samsung and Oracle. It also has every reason to make an IPO, given the popularity of similar business software companies such as Dropbox, DocuSign and Zuora. At the same time, the trade problems between China and the United States are causing some disappointing stock market results at the moment.