[Updated 9/16/16, 12:24 pm. See below.] The Boston area has already generated more tech IPOs this year than it did in all of 2015. That’s not saying much.
Burlington, MA-based Everbridge today became the second Massachusetts tech company to go public in 2016, following networking technology firm Acacia Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACIA]]). Last year, only one company with corporate headquarters in the Boston area went public: cybersecurity firm Rapid7 (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RPD]]).
Everbridge priced its initial public offering on Thursday, raising $90 million by selling 7.5 million shares at $12 apiece, according to Renaissance Capital. That was at the midpoint of Everbridge’s previously stated target range of $11 to $13 per share.
The company’s stock began trading Friday morning on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol EVBG. By lunch time, it was trading at $14.50 per share, nearly 18 percent higher than its opening share price of $12.30. [This paragraph added.]
Everbridge sells communications software used primarily during emergencies that threaten lives or business operations, such as severe weather, active shooter situations, IT outages, and cyber attacks.
The company was incorporated in January 2008 under the name 3n Global. It was initially a wholly owned subsidiary of National Notification Network, which was founded in 2002. 3n Global and National Notification Network merged in May 2008, and the combined company changed its name to Everbridge the following year, according to an SEC filing.
In its IPO paperwork filed with the SEC, Everbridge said it currently has more than 3,000 customers, up from 867 five years ago. Those customers include city governments, large investment banks, major airports, automakers, hospitals, and more.
Everbridge generated $58.7 million in revenue last year, up from $42.4 million in 2014. But the company is not profitable. It posted a net loss of $10.8 million last year, compared with a $623,000 loss the year before.
Everbridge raised about $18 million from private investors, SEC filings show. Prior to the IPO, its largest shareholders were ABS Ventures, which owned 31 percent of the company; Everbridge CEO and chairman Jaime Ellertson, who owned nearly 14 percent; and Everbridge co-founder and former CEO Cinta Putra, who owned almost 11 percent of the company.
Ellertson became CEO in 2011 after Everbridge, which was based in Los Angeles at the time, acquired his previous company, Massachusetts-based CloudFloor. Before CloudFloor, Ellertson was CEO of Internet performance management firm Gomez for five years. He led Gomez through an IPO registration, but it didn’t go public. The company was instead sold to Compuware for $295 million.
This time around, Ellertson’s company followed through on its IPO plans. It’ll be worth watching how that move plays out.
