Sumo Logic, a log management and security analytics company, appears poised for an IPO (initial public offering) on September 17.
Here are 10 things for partners, MSSPs, customers and potential investors to know. according to a Sumo Logic SEC filing and financial reports.
Updated September 17: The IPO is expected to gross $325.6 million, while valuing the overall company at $2.2 billion, Barrons reports.
1. Expected Sumo Logic Stock Symbol: SUMO.
2. What Sumo Logic Does: The Sumo Logic Continuous Intelligence Platform automates the collection, ingestion, and analysis of application, infrastructure, security, and IoT data to derive actionable insights within seconds, the company says.
3. Venture Capital Backers: Founded in 2010, Sumo Logic is backed by Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, DFJ Growth, Franklin Templeton, Greylock Partners, IVP, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Tiger Global Management, the company notes.
4. Customer Base: More than 2,130 customers as of July 2020, up from 1,900 customers as of January 2019 and 1,626 as of January 2018, the SEC filing says.
5. Annual Revenue: $155.1 million for fiscal 2020, up from $103.6 million in fiscal 2019, the SEC filing says.
6. Annual Net Loss: $92.1 million for fiscal 2020, larger than the $47.7 million net loss in fiscal 2019, the SEC filing says.
7. Headcount: As of July 31, 2020, Sumo Logic had 710 employees located in 13 countries, the SEC filing says.
8. Security Focus: Security was mentioned 231 times in Sumo Logic's form S-1 filing about the potential IPO. Translation for MSSP and MSP partners: Sumo Logic is betting heavily on security as a killer application for the company's platform, MSSP Alert notes.
9. Go-to-Market Strategy: Per the company's SEC filing:
"Our go-to-market strategy consists of self-service adoption through our website, an inside sales team, a field sales team, and a partner channel. We offer free trials that enable potential customers to experience the benefits of our platform, and we see significant conversion from our trial users to paid customers, with approximately one-third of our new customers in fiscal 2020 having been free trial users who converted into paying customers. We leverage our user community to proactively identify trends, gather global insights, and create new use cases, thereby empowering us to deliver out-of-the-box value to our customers. We employ a land-and-expand business model centered around our platform offerings, which have a rapid time to value for our customers and are easily extensible to multiple use cases across a business. We utilize the analytical capabilities of our platform and our customer success team to understand how our customers use, and how they would benefit from expanding their use of, our platform. This understanding helps us successfully upsell and cross sell to our existing customers."
10. Channel Partner Strategy: The SEC filing adds:
"We employ a go-to-market business model whereby a portion of our revenue is generated by sales through our channel partners, such as independent software vendors, resellers, managed service providers, and managed security service providers, that further expand the reach of our direct sales force into additional geographies, sectors, and industries. In particular, we have entered, and intend to continue to enter, into strategic sales distributor and reseller relationships in certain international markets where we do not have a local presence."
11. Bonus - Where MSPs and MSSPs Fit In: Sumo Logic in July 2020 launched the Practice Builder program for MSPs and MSSPs. Practice Builder allows MSPs and MSSPs to use Sumo Logic’s Continuous Intelligence Platform to secure their customers’ on-premises and cloud environments, the company said.
