Nvidia Investors Cohesity Plans 2026 IPO Valuation Benchmark Rubrik (RBRK.US)

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Sanjay Poonen, CEO of data security company Cohesity, said in an interview that the company is preparing for a possible initial public offering (IPO) in 2026. The goal is to achieve a valuation comparable to its listed competitor Rubrik (RBRK.US), which has a market value of 17 billion US dollars.

With support from Nvidia (NVDA.US), Cohesity abandoned its earlier IPO plans and instead merged with Veritas' data protection division. The merger was completed in December 2024, making Cohesity the world's largest provider of data protection software, with 19% of the market share. At the time, the combined company was valued at over $7 billion.

“I calculated in 2022 that we might go public, but among many companies, we're just a small fish,” said Poonen. He was referring to competitors including Rubrik and Kangwo Systems (CVLT.US). “That's not what I wanted.”

He said, “We want to be the biggest fish in the industry, occupy the largest market share, and then go public.” He also pointed out that once the merged company can provide performance data for the full fiscal year, it can go public.

Cohesity's fiscal year ended in August, which means the company may not go through an IPO until fall 2026. Poonen added, “I think 2026 is the best time if the business continues to gain momentum.”

The company's valuation was based on Rubrik, which went public in April 2024 and was valued at around $17 billion. Rubrik's market-sales ratio is 12.75 times, while its smaller counterpart Kangwo System has a market-sales ratio of 7.16. Poonen believes that if Cohesity can show similar performance indicators, its valuation should be “quite or even higher.”