Since 2007, exit valuation multiples in the Business Intelligence space have seen a wide range. Splunk and Tableau's recent success has buoyed multiples slightly.
Over the past few years, the Business Intelligence and Analytics space has seen strong exit activity from internet, mobile, and software based startups. Two of the more recent and large success stories have been Splunk and Tableau Software – both which have seen successful post-IPO performance. Of the Business Intelligence (BI) companies that have exited since 2007 with disclosed valuations and with exit valuation multiples (price/revenue ratios), we see a broad valuation multiple range. BI companies that have exited have seen multiples ranging from 1.3x to a high of 23.9x. (Note: The underlying transaction level data is available on CB Insights using valuation multiples search)
Looking at the valuation data since 2007, we see that the average price-to-sales (P/S) ratio in the BI market has been at 9.2x and the median at 5.5x. However, there has not been a consistent trend in BI exit valuation multiples over this period. The P/S ratios since 2012 have averaged 10.0x with a median of 6.2x, which is slightly above the overall values likely buoyed by the favorable sentiment ushered in by the success seen by the likes of Splunk and Tableau. The chart below highlights the distribution of exit valuation multiples in the business intelligence space since 2007.
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