More Billion-Plus Valuations for VC-Funded Companies
Now that private companies stay private longer, more and more of them have amassed large valuations. That, at least, is one takeaway from the index launched today by private stock-trading site SharesPost, which aims set approximate valuations for hot venture-backed companies. The SharesPost Venture-Backed Index, which crunches data from four sources to set values, currently covers seven companies, with valuations ranging from $227 million to $11.5 billion. They include Facebook (estimated value of $11.5 billion), Zynga ($2.6 billion), Twitter ($1.45 billion), LinkedIn ($1.3 billion), Tesla Motors ($1.28 billion), Linden Lab ($383 million), and Serious Materials ($227 million). SharesPost CEO Greg Brogger says the valuations are not intended as a hard-and-fast price point for setting sales prices. Rather, the idea is to give potential buyers and sellers of private company stock some easy-to-access data points to consider when setting up a transaction.
