Ibotta's stock debut nets 150+ Denver millionaires
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Ibotta's stock closed at $104 a share in its trading debut Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, a 18% jump after pricing at $88 a day earlier.
Why it matters: The Denver-based company is one of the city's most prominent tech names — particularly as the jersey sponsor of the Nuggets — and the IPO minted more than 150 millionaires in the metro area, CEO Bryan Leach told Axios.
- Many of them are family and friends who are older and ready to exit the private company investor role, he said.
What he's saying: "We have an opportunity to be more visible now," Leach explains, adding that the digital rewards platform will be able to better recruit talent as a publicly traded company.
By the numbers: Walmart-backed Ibotta raised $577.3 million in its IPO at a $2.7 billion valuation.
- Trading reached as high as $117.59 shortly after the market opened.
The big picture: Ibotta joins a cadre of tech companies that have seen a relatively warm reception from public markets in recent months.
- Ibotta has been watching several venture-backed companies' IPOs — Instacart, Klayvio, Reddit — and compares its own business most to ad tech company TradeDesk, which closed Thursday at $80.81 per share on the NASDAQ.
Zoom in: Leach says the company picked its IPO date nine months ago, so the warm investor reception amid a slowly re-opening listing window is a relief.
- "We thought about going out in 2021… but we didn't want to be lumped in with all the unprofitable SPAC companies," says Leach.
- Leach also highlights that the company has diversified its retail partnerships beyond Walmart, which is also an investor in the company.
What's next: Eventually, Ibotta could go beyond retail and partner with other industries, like banks, or content creators, to help them better track the promotions-to-sales connection.
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