Microsoft GitHub’s rival and long-time remote work leader, GitLab, files to go public
With the bull market going strong, many cloud tech companies are seeking to capitalize on the opportunity. The latest of them is GitLab.
GitLab is a software company that helps to reduce the software development cycle by allowing teams to share code and collaborate on projects. It directly competes with Microsoft’s GitHub.
While it is common for tech companies to go public, this will be the first time a large fully remote company gets listed on the public market. GitLab plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol “GTLB”.
In the secondary financing round earlier this year, GitLab was valued at $6 billion, which allowed shareholders to sell up to 20% of their equity. However, GitLab did not disclose the terms of its offering now.
GitLab is widely recognized for its long-held, remote-first stance, and for being more transparent with its metrics. In fact, they have proudly stated this in the prospectus’ header, which reads “address not applicable.”
The company has 1,350 employees spread across over 65 countries and has been operating remotely since its inception in 2014.
The filing says:
“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,”
As other tech companies such as Google are still uncertain about their remote working plans, GitLab’s public listing instils the much-needed confidence that it is indeed possible to build a successful company while your team works remotely.
