14 DAY TRIAL // Dropbox is getting some heat these days, with users complaining about the terms of use change, the lack of user-side encryption and the likes. Most users, or investors apparently, don't seem to care about any of this, Dropbox is said to be looking to raise a massive amount of money at a huge valuation of at least $5 billion.
In fact, it may be looking to be valuated at as much as $10 billion, as talks begin with several potential investors. Dropbox wants to raise between $200 million and $300 million, according to TechCrunch.
With the numbers internet companies fetch these days, it may not be so surprising, but it's an awful lot of money by any comparison.
Twitter, for example, is valuated at $8 billion in an undergoing fund raising round, which has not been confirmed yet. Granted, Twitter doesn't really generate any significant revenue yet, but Dropbox is not exactly Groupon either.
Apart from the valuation, the amount of money Dropbox wants to get is also impressive, the company has only raised about $7.2 million so far. If that sum was enough to get Dropbox to where it is today, it's hard to imagine what it can do with $200 million.
Of course, it may simply be looking to cash out for some early investors, the top execs, or early employees. Most of the sum raised could be split among them, with only a fraction actually used to fund the company.
This type of deal is not really rare with startups that are growing fast, just not fast enough, perhaps. Dropbox is said to be raising the money in two steps, but the first part will amount to at least half of the money raised in total.
Dropbox is said to be still in early talks regarding the funding, but there has been plenty of interest from investors in the past months so it should have no trouble finding suitors.