Clear Secure, a biometric identity company serving airports, is headed for an initial public offering. It’s unveiled an S-1 document filed with the SEC to that end, seeking to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

• Clear Secure provides biometric identities that help people get checked easily at airports and skip usual long lines and wait times. It doesn’t stop at airports but is also used at other venues such as sports stadiums.

• Clear Secure’s business model is charging the users of its biometric identity app, and it’s a solid one that produced north of $200mn in sales last year.

• As usual, we’re breaking down some of the important bits from Clear Secure’s S-1 filing, mostly on its revenue figures.

By the Numbers

• Clear brought in $231mn in revenue in 2020, compared to $192mn in the previous year. 

• The company isn’t profitable on a net basis, with a small net loss of $9.3mn in 2020, way down from $54mn in the previous year.

Highlights

• The Clear that we see right now is a major comeback story. It was originally launched in the 2000s but got caught up in a bankruptcy stemming from its owner’s inability to pay off a loan. Then, Clear’s current owners bought it out of bankruptcy for just $6mn in 2009.

• After getting bought out, Clear made a comeback in 2010. Furthermore, it raised $135mn in venture funding to grow, from the likes of T. Rowe Price, Delta Airlines, and basketball great Michael Jordan.

• Going into its IPO, major Clear investors listed as having a stake of over 5% each include T. Rowe Price, Delta Airlines, and hedge fund Durable Capital Partners. Along with them is Alclear Investments, the firm jointly owned by Clear’s current owners who bought it out of bankruptcy – Caryn Seidman-Becker and Ken Cornick.

• Clear plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange with the trading symbol “YOU”.

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