Silver Spring Networks Could Make a Big Splash with $150 Million IPO

Rumors have been circulating for months, but smart grid company Silver Spring Networks has made it official: the company is preparing for an IPO.

The Redwood City, California-based company filed with the SEC last week to raise up to $150 million on the NYSE under the symbol "SSNI". The price range and listing date haven’t been announced yet.

Silver Spring Networks provides a smart grid networking platform to utilities. They have a strong market share (29%) for communications modules that support advanced metering infrastructure, and was the top ranked company on the 2010 Global Cleantech 100 list.

Silver Spring has numerous deployments with leading utilities in the US and abroad, including Florida Power & Light, Pacific Gas & Electric, Pepco Holdings, Inc., Jemena Electricity Networks Limited and United Energy Distribution, among others.

The company grew revenues significantly in 2010, generating $70 million in sales and $261 million in billings – up from just $3 million and $196 billion in 2009.

All this could lead to a big debut – especially considering that public markets have been favorable to cleantech IPOs so far this year.

The company’s latest round of funding ($100 million in December 2009) included investments by Google Ventures, Foundation Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Northgate Capital.