11-year-old software company Yext finally filed to go public, 2 years behind schedule

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Howard Lerman Headshot yext

Yext

Howard Lerman, CEO and co-founder of Yext.

New York-based Yext, a self-styled "knowledge engine" that helps businesses keep their listings on services like Yelp, Google Maps, and Apple's Siri up-to-date, has filed for an IPO.

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You can read Yext's S-1 filing with the SEC here. It usually takes several weeks after this filing drops before the stock actually begins trading on the market.

Yext began life in 2006 as an advertising services company, but has changed businesses several times since then. In 2012, it sold Felix, a profitable pay-per-call advertising business, to IAC, so it could focus on business listings.

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And in 2014, Yext CEO Howard Lerman hinted that the company was on track for an IPO in 2015. At the time, Yext had closed a $50 million round of financing that valued the startup at $525 million.

Yext's filing reveals that it "generated a net loss of $17.3 million and $26.5 million in fiscal year 2015 and 2016," showing expanding losses, though it also says it's experiencing a period of rapid growth.

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It's all a sign that the market for tech IPOs, which had all but dried up in 2016, is back on track in 2017. This is the first filing since Snap's blockbuster IPO earlier in March, but more are expected shortly, especially big data company Cloudera.