Upcoming Knightscope IPO: Date, Price, and Financials, Explained

ASR (autonomous security robot) company Knightscope has announced plans to go public. The company is taking an unusual approach to listing and will offer shares to existing investors first. What’s the date and price for the IPO? What valuation is the company seeking?

While 2021 looks set to beat last year’s record in terms of IPOs, beneath the surface we find that almost half of the companies that raised over $1 billion this year in an IPO trade below the listing price. The performance of SPAC mergers has also been dismal and even some of the hyped SPAC mergers have flopped.

Knightscope was founded in 2013 and in 2015 it deployed its first robots at a Silicon Valley shopping center. In 2016, the company announced its indoor autonomous security robot called the K3. The next year, it announced a stationary security robot called K1. In 2018, the company received its first order from a local government.

Knightscope offers several ASRs and its clients include shopping centers, airports, and hospitals. The company received its first federal purchase order in 2020. Knightscope's ASRs can help law enforcement agencies with crime detection.

Knightscope hasn’t finalized the IPO date yet. However, the company said that it commenced the offering beginning Dec. 1 after the SEC qualified the offer. The company will trade under the ticker symbol "KSCP" on the Nasdaq.

Knightscope has started marketing the offering and expects to continue doing so for up to 45 days. The stock will start trading after the offering closes.

Knightscope is a crowdfunded company that's prioritizing its 28,000 investors in the IPO. It has raised $95 million so far and existing investors have the option to purchase more shares now.

The company is offering the shares on the My IPO platform where the minimum investment amount is $500. There isn't an upper limit on the investment that you can make in the company. Knightscope is also offering pre-IPO shares through its website.

The offering is open for international investors and you can buy the shares with a credit card.

Knightscope is selling 4 million shares priced at $10 in the IPO. The company mainly intends to use the funds for technology development and ASR manufacturing. It will use $6 million for general corporate purposes.

Knightscope reported revenues of $3.3 million in 2020, which was 10 percent higher than what it posted in 2019. In the first six months of 2021, it generated revenues of $1.8 million. The company had $12 million as cash and cash equivalents at the end of June. However, like most other startup companies, it's posting losses.

The company’s net losses swelled to $19.3 million in 2020—60 percent higher than what it did in 2019. In the first six months of 2021, the company posted a net loss of $22.7 million, which is higher than what it did in all of 2020.