Elastic Prices IPO Above Range, Selling 7M Shares At $36 Apiece

Morning Markets: Search-focused Elastic’s IPO is going well, as the firm prices above its raised range.

Elastic priced its IPO at $36 per share, above its recently raised range. The search-centered open source company had initially targeted a $26 to $29 per share. That was raised to $33 to $35.

At $36 per share, Elastic, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., raised $252 million in its debut. Elastic’s shares have yet to begin freely trading as of the time of writing. For our take on Elastic’s revenue growth and other performance metrics, head here.

The company’s IPO is a win for a passel of venture shops, including Benchmark, which led its Series A, Index, which led its Series B, and New Enterprise Associates, which led its Series C. NEA and Benchmark took care of its Series D.

For Benchmark, the strong debut is even more of a win than it would otherwise seem. The firm was also part of Upwork’s successful IPO that touched down earlier this week.

What’s It Worth?

Taking into account its newly-issued shares, Elastic is worth around $2.5 billion. That figure rises by a few dozen million if the firm’s greenshoe offering comes into play.

Elastic itself fits into the traditional high-growth mold for venture-backed companies. The company, for example, grew its revenue from $88.2 million in its fiscal year ending April 30, 2017 to $159.9 million in the following year. Its losses were about flat for the two periods.

Yes, the company’s recent losses are a bit higher, but its growth continues, including a $56.6 million top line result in its most recent quarter.

We’ll know a bit more when it trades, but as the firm has already enjoyed a red-carpet pricing experience, I am not exactly petrified about how its shares will perform once they float.

One more unicorn IPO is now in the bag. So far Q4 is off to quite the start.