Etsy's Enormous Journey To IPO In 1 Graphic

Atish Davda is the CEO of EquityZen.

This morning, Etsy Inc ETSY, the marketplace for eclectic retailers, hit the public markets at a $1.8 billion valuation. Shares have since doubled in a couple hours of trading.

So, how did it get there?

Some of the facts about their journey:

• Etsy was founded nearly 10 years ago, in 2005, and received its first venture capital investment from Union Square Ventures (USV) and others in June 2006.
• Since that first investment, Etsy has raised over $80 million from Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Accel Partners, and others.
• The company now employs over 700 people.

Big Win For Fred Wilson And USV

Their long path to being a public company has reaped huge rewards for their earliest investors. USV initially invested in Etsy at $0.08 per share, and stand to make a 200x return on their initial check! In total, USV will own a stake in Etsy worth $240 million at IPO.

Related Link: Wedbush Initiates Coverage On Etsy Before IPO

Biggest Payday To Accel Partners

Jim Breyer, one of Facebook's earliest investors, joined Etsy's board in 2008, and his firm Accel Partners led Etsy's $28 million Series D financing. Accel is currently Etsy's largest shareholder, owning 27 percent of the company: that stake is worth $424 million as of the IPO.

What About The Founders?

None of Etsy's founders are mentioned in the company's S-1 Filing, signaling that they are not owners of at least 5 percent of the company's outstanding stock. This shouldn't be too surprising, for a number of reasons. For one, having multiple founders will dilute the ownership across the group (as compared to Aaron Levie at Box or Renauld Leplanche at Lending Club, both solo-founders that held significant stakes of their respective businesses at the time of IPO recently).

For another, Etsy allowed employees and management to sell some of their stock in company-controlled secondary sales in May 2012 (at $6.90/share) and January 2014 (at $10.60/share). This would reduce the remaining share ownership of the founding team as well.

Taking Care Of The Little Guy

In a rare move, Etsy has reserved 5 percent of its IPO for purchase by Etsy vendors and retail investors (about $11 million worth of stock). These investors can reserve up to $2,500 of stock per person: typically IPO allocations only go to institutional investors an ultra-high net worth individuals.