Guidewire Software, provider of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to help insurance firms simplify major day-to-day operations, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. Guidewire's platform seeks to make routine tasks performed by their clients, such as billing, underwriting and policy administration, claims management and billing, much more efficient. The firm has attracted funding from major venture capital firms on both sides of the United States, including Boston-based Battery Ventures and California-based Bay Partners. The San Mateo, CA-based company, which was founded in 2001 and booked $167 million in sales for the 12 months ended April 30, 2011, plans to list under the symbol GWRE. J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup are the lead underwriters on the deal. Terms and timing have yet to be announced.
Guideware is the most recent member of the recent rush of software-as-a-service companies and is the sixth SaaS company of its kind to register with the SEC in the past two weeks. Preceding Guideware were BrightCov (BCOV), Bazaarvoice (BV), Eloqua Limited (ELOQ), JIVE Software (JIVE), and MobiTV (MBTV).
