According to people familiar with the matter, the fitness application Strava, popular among running and cycling enthusiasts, has confidentially submitted paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) in recent weeks and has hired Goldman Sachs Group to lead the underwriting for the listing.
The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2009. The sources indicated that Strava has recently begun meeting with potential investors, and its IPO could launch as early as this spring. The company achieved rapid revenue growth last year, with an increase of over 50% year-on-year, and has reached profitability; however, compared to other publicly traded consumer internet firms, Strava's scale remains relatively small, with last year's revenue falling short of $500 million.
Strava did not respond to requests for comment, and Goldman Sachs Group declined to comment.
The IPO may provide an exit opportunity for long-term shareholders, including prominent investment firms such as Sequoia Capital and TCV. It was reported that Strava's valuation, including debt, reached $2.2 billion during the spring of last year. Details regarding the fundraising target and valuation for this specific offering are not yet known.
Strava is one of several venture-backed internet companies, developed over more than a decade, that are now making a push toward the public markets. The company needs to attract a new cohort of investors who believe its stock performance will more closely resemble that of the internet veteran Reddit, rather than Klarna or StubHub. Since its IPO in 2024, Reddit's stock price has surged more than sixfold, while the share prices of the latter two companies currently trade significantly below their offering prices from last year.
In a separate development, sources revealed that Discord, another internet company with a ten-year history, is also planning to launch its own public offering within the coming months.
Strava's growth narrative is partly rooted in its rapid ascent during the pandemic. The app combines fitness tracking with social features, allowing users to record and share their activity data, as well as interact with and commend their friends' athletic achievements. Concurrently, the rising popularity of running among Generation Z has provided a tailwind for the company's expansion.
To enhance its application's functionality, Strava has pursued growth through acquiring competitors in recent years. The company acquired the UK-based running coaching app Runna, followed by the cycling training platform The Breakaway, last year.
Data from Strava's official website shows the application boasts over 150 million active users across 185 countries worldwide. A basic version of the app is available for free, while a paid subscription unlocks additional premium services.
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