Dropbox inches closer to IPO with estimated $10B valuation

Here's your latest dose of billion-dollar valuations in the tech world. Earlier this week, Google picked up smart thermostat maker Nest for a cool $3.2 billion.

Now that seems like almost nothing (well, relatively speaking) compared to Dropbox, which is now said to be worth close to $10 billion, based on a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

Based on unnamed sources, the San Francisco-based company is said to have raked in $250 million following another round of venture capital fundraising.

Dropbox raised approximately the same amount during a Series B round back in 2011.

This report coupled with several analyst forecasts fuel the thought that the tech market will be coming on strong in 2014, especially in regards to IPOs and M&A activity.

Dropbox itself might not be announcing an IPO just yet. Rumors have been swirling for awhile now, but nothing concrete has emerged.

Nevertheless, CEO Drew Houston has affirmed as recently as November that such a plan is in the cards -- eventually.

The cloud storage company is certainly aligning itself in that direction with new capital as well as a stronger business strategy fleshed out over the last year geared toward corporate customers.