(Reuters) - Shares of Goldman Sachs-backed ON24 Inc jumped nearly 54% in their market debut on Wednesday, giving the webinar-marketing platform a market value of over $3.42 billion.
Shares opened at $77, well above their initial public offering (IPO) price of $50 per share. The company sold nearly 8.6 million shares in its IPO, raising more than $428 million.
ON24’s stellar debut comes as a string of companies rush to capitalize on the red-hot U.S. IPO market that shattered records over the past year.
Founded in 1998 by Chief Executive Officer Sharat Sharan, San Francisco-based ON24 allows people to create webinars and host virtual events on its platform and received $25 million in funding from Goldman Sachs in early 2019.
Video-conferencing platforms have become a vital part of day-to-day life due to the COVID-19 pandemic as people stuck at home under restrictions use them for work, school or socializing.
“We were doing really well and then the market came to us. Companies have gone through ten years worth of transformations in ten months,” Sharan told Reuters.
Goldman Sachs Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and KeyBanc Capital Markets were the lead underwriters for the offering.
Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Aditya SOni

Source: Reuters

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