ReachLocal Inc., an online advertising agency targeting small- to medium-sized business, on Tuesday filed for a $100 million initial public offering.

The Woodland Hills company, founded in 2003, has enjoyed explosive growth by carving out a niche market. ReachLocal employs hundreds of salespeople who go door to door to convince mom-and-pop stores to buy online advertising. ReachLocal assists the businesses in placing the ads on Web sites and monitoring performance.

The Business Journal this fall ranked the company the county’s fourth fastest-growing public company. Last year, the firm had a net loss last year of almost $7 million but racked up nearly $147 million in revenue, for annual growth rate of 115 percent, according to its regulatory filing.

In the first nine months of this year Reach Local turned profitable, reporting net income of $11.6 million on revenue of $143 million, according to the filing.

Its competitors include San Francisco-based Yelp.com, which is considered the market leader in local online advertising, a fast-growing corner of the Internet. This month, Yelp walked away from an acquisition offer from Google Inc. that topped $550 million.

ReachLocal previously raised about $68 million in venture capital from backers that include VantagePoint Venture Partners, Rho Ventures and Galleon Group. The IPO is being underwritten by J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, citi, Piper Jaffray, Needham & Company, and Broadpoint.Gleacher.