The 2012 JOBS Act permitted Emerging Growth Companies to initiate the ipo process by submitting their IPO registration statements confidentially to the SEC for nonpublic review by the SEC staff. The confidential process was intended to allow an EGC to defer the public disclosure of sensitive or competitive information until it was almost ready to market the offering—and potentially to avoid the public disclosure altogether if it ultimately decided not to proceed with the offering.
Source: Corp Fin updates FAQs regarding draft registration statements