Peloton, the connected fitness company, said that it filed confidential IPO paperwork. No specifics were disclosed, but word is that Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are lead bankers, with plans to price the offering in September.
Why it matters: Peloton may be first out of the gate for the post-Labor Day IPO rush, and will confound analyst "buckets." It's a hardware maker that's also a subscription content creator that's also a streaming software company that also does its own last-mile logistics. CEO John Foley is known to prompt cynical chuckles by calling Peloton the next Apple, but it's hard to think of a much better comp.
- ROI: Peloton has raised nearly $1 billion, most recently at a $4.15 billion post-money valuation. Investors include Tiger Global, Kleiner Perkins, L Catterton, Grace Beauty Capital, Tugboat Ventures, True Ventures, Bullish, Fidelity, Wellington Management, TCV and Brand Foundry Ventures.
The bottom line: The key metric will be churn, or a supposed lack thereof, but Peloton will still need to convince Wall Street that it's more a media company than a faddish fitness hardware company in the vein of Fitbit and GoPro.
