Dropbox Opens At $29

Morning Report: Dropbox shares opened today at $29, up compared to its IPO price of $21 per share.

This morning Dropbox began its life as a public company worth $29 per share, up from its IPO price of $21 per share. The result is an obvious victory for the Y Combinator-backed unicorn.

The company initially set a price range for its shares of $16 to $18, that was raised to $18 to $20. The firm then priced above that level, pushing the aggregate value of its equity closer to the $10 billion mark.

Something to keep in mind is that some estimates of Dropbox’s worth are fully-diluted (inclusive of RSUs, and the like) and some are not. We’ll have a more market-agreed value mark for Dropbox soon enough. (Everyone tends to hew to a single number after an IPO finds its legs).

I hear this company may turn out to be a big deal.

But all that aside, the day is a good one for Dropbox, who showed that a company going public might not get the comp that it wanted (Atlassian), but it also doesn’t have to get the comp that it didn’t want (Box). With a revenue multiple in between the two, Dropbox has now set a new mark for the value of recurring revenue on the public markets.

But all that is over now. The pricing and opening dances are through. Now it’s up to Dropbox to drive growth, find GAAP profitability, fend off the Big 5, and figure out if it has a future in non-file storage productivity tools.

From The Crunchbase Daily:

Dropbox raises $756M in IPO

• File sharing and storage unicorn Dropbox raised the price of its shares to $21 as the company preps for its market debut this morning. The 11-year-old company sold 36 million shares, raising $756 million.

Blockchain Capital closes $150M fund

• Blockchain Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that focuses on blockchain tech and crypto, closed a $150 million fund, bringing total assets under management to $250 million. To date, the five-year-old firm has invested in 72 companies and tokens.

CHJ Auto raises $473M, parners with Didi

• CHJ Automotive, a Beijing-based auto startup, has reportedly raised $473 million and is planning to build electric vehicles through a joint venture with Chinese ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing.