You are Laura Kessler-Obi, head of technology equity capital markets at the bank leading the initial public offering of Prismview Analytics. It is Monday 2 March 2026 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and by Wednesday you must tell the syndicate desk which companies you will compare Prismview with in front of investors.
The situation
Prismview sells an analytics and business-intelligence platform that its 1,840 customers, mid-market and enterprise companies, embed in their own applications. Its annual recurring revenue (ARR) is US$180 million, growing 32% a year; existing customers spend 18% more than a year ago. It holds US$84 million of cash against US$95 million of venture debt. The prospectus, public for twenty-one days, offers 22 million new shares at US$18–21; at the midpoint, Prismview is worth about US$2.54 billion.
Investors will price Prismview by looking at a peer group, and several sit on the table, each with its median enterprise value to ARR: AI-adjacent analytics, 11.4 times; horizontal software, 8.6 times; data infrastructure, 14.2 times; and vertical analytics, 7.1 times. The chief executive, Nathan Carrow, wants the expensive sets: the product's machine-learning features, he says, make the cheaper ones a discount Prismview has not earned. You know every portfolio manager will ask which set they can defend to their own investment committee.
The market is no help. Last Thursday a close competitor went public and closed its first day below its offer price. Two strategic buyers and a private-equity firm have sounded out a purchase at US$2.4–2.8 billion. And the SEC, the securities regulator, has opened an informal inquiry, not yet public, into when revenue on three contracts was recognized.