Property search site Trulia announced changes to its management team Monday as the next step toward an initial public offering.
Trulia co-founder Sami Inkinen, formerly the company’s chief operating officer, will become the company’s president. He will shift his focus to the company’s strategic growth, including mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and overall business growth, the company said.
Paul Levine, a Silicon Valley veteran and formerly president of new media at Current TV, will take over as COO. He will head the consumer services and business services divisions of Trulia.
"Paul’s consumer Internet experience and local advertising background, combined with Sami’s keen focus on strategic growth and building new businesses, will help us become the category leader and continue transforming the online real estate experience," said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder of Trulia, in a statement.
"We’ve doubled the size of our business in the last 12 months, and with this strengthened management team we are positioned to continue growing rapidly, be more innovative and scale faster than ever before."
The company has no set plans for an initial public offering, Flint told Inman News. The changes are "really about scaling up the management team to help to grow the business … with a view to being a public entity at some point in the future," he said.
Competitor Zillow has also mentioned filing for an IPO, possibly this year. Online real estate company Iggy’s House filed for an IPO in 2007, but withdrew in January 2008, citing poor market conditions.
Trulia announced profitability at the end of last year and recently opened a 16,000-square-foot office in Denver. The company also announced plans to hire up to 100 employees by the end of the year.
