Chegg used to be a Craigslist-type of business for
selling and renting textbooks. Now, it bills itself as a “student hub” offering
textbook solutions in both print and digital formats, scholarships, study
tools, and a place to resell course materials.
Having grown over the years, Chegg is filing an initial
public offering that it hopes will raise $150 million. The company is valued at
$800 million, generated a net revenue of more than $213 million last year, and
has raised nearly $200 million from investors, according to an eCampus News
report.
While the company value is impressive, it’s also been
piling up impressive losses such as $26 million in red ink in 2010. But the bleeding
is beginning to slow with a net loss of $21 million in the first half of 2013,
compared to a first-half loss of $32 million in 2012.
“What Chegg must prove to investors is that its growing
revenue can be converted to profits,” wrote Alex Wilhelm in a TechCrunch post.
“However, given the scale of its raise compared to its current cash position,
it doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to reach the black.”