Box Inc. raises $150 million from TPG Capital and Coatue Management LLC while awaiting an IPO

The online-storage start-up Box Inc. revealed in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it almost doubled its revenue over its most recent financial quarter. The company also managed to raise 150 million dollars from the private-equity firm TPG Capital and the hedge fund Coatue Management LLC in order to become more flexible about the exact timing of its Initial Public Offering.

According to people with knowledge of the process, the latest financing has valued Box Inc. at about 2.4 billion dollars. Still, it is considered pretty unusual for a company that has filed for an Initial Public Offering to raise funds.

As reported by the people familiar with the matter, the investment from private-equity firm TPG Capital is said to come from its growth-equity fund. The financing of Box Inc. follows an investment strategy of TPG Growth unit, which has recently made investments in other high-growth, late-state technology start-ups like Airbnb Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc.

The U.S.-based start-up filed for an Initial Public Offering in March, in order to raise at least 150 million dollars but delayed its plan when seeing that the share prices of other technology companies collapsed. One person with direct knowledge of Box Inc.s plans reported that the company will go public in the autumn of 2014. Another person familiar with the process revealed that the start-up expects to carry out its IPO by the end of 2014, but not before September 1st.

According to the regulatory filing posted by Box Inc., the companys sales during the fiscal quarter ended April 30 increased from 23.4 million for the same period in 2013 to 45.3 million dollars in 2014. The cloud-storage services provider also reported that its net loss slightly rose from 34 to 38.5 million dollars due to the fact that the companys sales and marketing expenses rose by about 40% to 47.4 million dollars.

In case the Initial Public Offering of Box Inc. is carried out over the 12 months that are yet to come, both TPG Capital and Coatue Management LLC are guaranteed a return estimated to at least 11% on the price of 20 dollars per share they paid in the latest funding. In case the Initial Public Offering is delayed further, the return of the investors increases to 15% on an yearly basis.