1-Minute Video Shows Why GoPro's IPO May Be Hot
May 20, 2014— -- intro: GoPro filed for a $100 million initial public offering this week, and it just takes a visit to YouTube to see how the company has sold more than 8.5 million mini high-definition cameras since launching in July 2009.
The company began when founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman wanted to create surf videos to share with friends.
"YouTube has helped make GoPro what it is today -- Facebook also," Woodman told ABC News' "Nightline" in 2012. "Our customers going out and capturing interesting footage with it and sharing it online is really what's driving GoPro's growth. It's a virally grown brand in the hands of our customers."
Watch: ABC News' Matt Gutman Joins GoPro Founder and CEO in Road Trip to Nicaragua
The San Mateo, California-based company now sells its products in more than 100 countries and through more than 25,000 retail stores, according to its S-1 filing on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It filed to list on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “GPRO.”
Check out some of GoPro's more viral videos in the 1-minute montage, which reflect its cameras' wide range of uses:
quicklist:title: Fireman Saves Kittentext: GoPro's "Fireman Saves Kitten" is the company's second-most viewed video, with more than 21.6 million views since Sept. 25, 2013. In the video, fireman Cory Kalanick rescues an unconscious kitten from a burning house filled with smoke. The company's most viral video is its promo of the GoPro Hero3, with 31.3 million views since Oct. 17, 2012.
quicklist:title: Lionsmedia: 23798926text: "Lions -- The New Endangered Species?" is the company's fifth-most viral YouTube video, with more than 15.7 million views since Nov. 20, 2013. In the video, Kevin Richardson, known as the “Lion Whisperer,” get up close and personal with lions and other animals in South Africa.
quicklist:title: Shark Riderstext:"Director's Cut -- Shark Riders" has had more than 6.1 million views since Jan. 9, 2013. GoPro's tenth-most viral video, it was shot in the Bahamas over five days, edited from over 150 hours of footage.
quicklist:title: Avalanche Cliff Jumptext:"Avalanche Cliff Jump with Matthias Giraud" has more than 5.8 million views, GoPro's 11th-most popular video on YouTube. First published on April 20, 2011, the video shows skiers Matthias Giraud and Stefan Laude trying to outrun an avalanche in the French Alps.
quicklist:title: Powder Dreamstext: One of GoPro's newest YouTube videos, "Nate Wallace Powder Dreams", published on May 16, 2014, features skier Nate Wallace showing "what it means to get blower powder in the French Alps," according to its YouTube description.
quicklist:title: Jellyfish Laketext: Another new video from last week, "Lost in Jellyfish Lake," shows photographer Nana Trongratanawong surrounded by golden jellyfish during a freedive at Jellyfish Lake in the country of Palau.
