MuleSoft Inc’s shares jumped as much as 52.5 percent in their debut on Friday, giving the enterprise software company a market capitalization of about $3.27 billion.
The IPO kicks off what is expected to be a string of more than a dozen offerings from enterprise software companies this year, including those that offer business process automation and cyber security services, reports Reuters.
MuleSoft’s debut is widely considered to be a better barometer of how so-called unicorn technology companies – firms worth $1 billion or more – fare in the public market, than the Snap Inc IPO it closely follows.
Snap’s IPO earlier this month was an outlier in many respects and dwarfs any technology IPO expected this year. The messaging app raised $3.4 billion and earned a $24 billion valuation in the IPO, making it the largest U.S. tech deal since Facebook in 2012.
San Francisco-based MuleSoft makes software that automatically integrates disparate data, devices and applications to help businesses networks run faster.
The offering of 13 million shares was priced at $17 each on Thursday – above the expected range of $14-$16 – and raised about $221 million.
The company has more than 1,000 customers, including Coca-Cola Co, McDonald’s Corp, Salesforce.com Inc, Spotify and Unilever.
MuleSoft’s total revenue jumped 70 percent to $188 million in 2016, according to its IPO filings. The company is not profitable, but its losses narrowed to $50 million last year from $65 million in the previous year.
However, profitability has not really been a requirement for joining the so-called “unicorn” club – venture-backed private companies worth $1 billion or more.
Shares of software maker Twilio Inc, which is also not profitable, are trading at about twice their IPO price. MuleSoft’s shares were up 48 percent at $25.18 after touching a high of $25.92.
