21 Fast Facts about the Etsy IPO

21 Fast Facts about the Etsy IPO (Certified B Corp)

1. Etsy sold more than 13 million shares on its first day of trading as a public company (April 16th 2015), raising $267 million with a valuation of $1.8 billion.

2. Etsy was founded in 2005 in Brooklyn, New York.

3. Etsy became a certified B corporation in 2012.

4. Etsy is the 2nd B corp to go public, of 1000+ B corporation. (The first was Rally Software, interview with CTO here).

5. Etsy has over 25M members.

6. Etsy Craft Entrepreneurship Program launched in 2013, to offer classes to help individuals in low-income areas learn how to make and sell crafts on Etsy. It is now in 3 US cities and expanding internationally.

7. Etsy debuted its IPO at $16 a share, and closed it’s first day at $31 a share.

8. Etsy has over 1 million active sellers and 19.8 million active buyers on the site.

9. Originally, Etsy had only one rule for selling, everything posted for sale must be handmade by the seller.

10. In 2013, Etsy dropped the sell-only-handmade rule.

11. Etsy Founder Kalin stepped down twice, once in 2008 (resumed in 2009) and in 2011.

12. Etsy CTO Chad Dickerson became CEO in 2011.

13. As of 2015, Etsy employees about 400 employees.

14. Sales on Etsy topped $1B in 2013.

15. In the 3 years prior to filing IPO (i.e. from 2012-2015), Etsy lost close to $18.4M.

16. The term “Etsy Economy” is defined by CEO Chad Dickerson as “a people-powered economy with person-to-person commerce” that is “the feel of a farmer’s market instead of a supermarket…”

17. Founder Rob Kalin owned less than 1% of Etsy at the time of IPO.

18. Etsy’s updated policies allow sellers to work with manufacturers for mass production.

19. Etsy hosts an annual “Hello Etsy” conference for Etsy sellers and small business owners.

20. Etsy may have to incorporate as a benefit corporation to maintain its B corp status, according to rules set forth by B Lab. (Note here’s the difference between a b corp and a benefit corporation)

21. Etsy’s IPO was the largest IPO ever for a venture-backed, New York-based startup.