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Delivery Agent, a San Francisco, California-based online shopping portal will evaluate an exit strategy in 18 months, and may buy this year, according to CEO Mike Fitzsimmons.
The company could also consider a round a mezzanine financing, Fitzsimmons said.
Fitzsimmons, who founded the company in 2002, said that within 18 months, the company should have revenues of USD 100m, and then it will begin evaluating if it will IPO or sell. “I don’t know. The goal is to reach USD 100m, and then we will figure it out from there,” he said. “We are well positioned to reach that goal.” He said investment banks have been pitching their services to the company, but it has not yet chosen one.
Two industry executives said the company could prove to be an attractive target to the likes of listed California-based eBay or listed Washington-based Amazon, both of which are among Delivery Agent’s competitors. Other competitors include Yahoo, Google and YouTube. When asked if his competitors considered his company an attractive target, Fitzsimmons replied, “I would leave that answer to them. We are focused on building a positive cash flow.”
Delivery Agent allows consumers in 50 countries to purchase outfits or items they have seen celebrities use on television or in the movies through its product called SeenOn. The company has 75 employees, and projects it will reach USD 50m in revenues in 2007. Fitzsimmons said the company is growing at a rate of 300% a year, and may acquire three companies this year to accelerate growth.
If Delivery Agent does acquire, it will most likely be media or advertising companies that specialize in music, television, movies, or shopping to bring about more consumer awareness, Fitzsimmons said. Those companies might be in Europe or Japan.
“I think we will clearly be evaluating expansion into international opportunities. Europe and Japan will be our first two. We are evaluating two specifically.” he said. “The goal is USD 100m, and the only thing that would prompt us to exit sooner would be to accelerate on the acquisition strategy,” he added.
Delivery Agent is primarily owned by venture groups. The company has raised USD 35m from Bessemer Venture Partners, Cardinal Venture Capital and Worldview Technology Partner. The latest round of USD 18.5m was announced in May. That round will be used to build out the company infrastructure, evaluate acquisition opportunities and develop its technology.
Prior to founding Delivery Agent, Fitzsimmons led product marketing and business development for Something Now, which was acquired by CNET Networks in 2001 for an undisclosed amount.
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