Microsoft GitHub rival GitLab files to go public after hitting a $6 billion valuation

GitLab, the popular open-source code collaboration platform that enables developers to create, review, and deploy codebases, announced its initial public offerings on Friday. The company said it plans to list on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “GTLB,” according to initial filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The proceeds from the IPO will enable GitLab to raise the money it needs to take on Atlassian and GitHub

The announcement comes nearly a year after GitLab’s secondary share sale that valued the company at $6 billion. That was up from a $2.7 billion valuation in a late 2019 financing round when we wrote about the company.

Meanwhile, GitLab said its revenue in the latest quarter climbed 69% to $58.1 million, but its net loss widened to $40.2 million. GitLab competes with GitHub, a rival software development platform Microsoft acquired in 2018 for $7.5 billion.

“Operating remotely allows us access to a global talent pool that enables us to hire talented team members, regardless of location, providing a strong competitive advantage,” the filing says. The startup currently has 1,350 employees in more than 65 countries.

Founded in 2014 by Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Sytse Sijbrandij, GitLab is a DevOps platform built from the ground up as a single application for all stages of the DevOps lifecycle enabling Product, Design, Development, QA, Security, and Operations teams to work concurrently on the same project. GitLab provides teams a single data store, one user interface, and one permission model across the DevOps lifecycle, allowing teams to collaborate and work on a project from a single conversation, significantly reducing cycle time and focus exclusively on building great software quickly.

Built on open-source, GitLab leverages the community contributions of thousands of developers and millions of users to continuously deliver new DevOps innovations. GitLab is used by more than 100,000 organizations around the globe from startups to global enterprises, including Ticketmaster, Jaguar Land Rover, NASDAQ, Dish Network, and Comcast.