The name EverQuote may not ring a bell for you, although chances are you’ve seen one of its online ads about “disrupting” the insurance industry.
The company, which operates an online marketplace for auto, home, and life insurance, has mostly flown under the radar on its way to reaching $120 million-plus in annual revenue and 10 million monthly visitors to its website. Now, EverQuote is stepping into the spotlight and going public. The Cambridge, MA-based company said Wednesday night that its stock is set to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “EVER.”
It’s no blockbuster, but the deal marks the Boston area’s second tech IPO of the year. In a press release, the consumer tech company said the offering would raise nearly $84.4 million by selling 4,687,500 shares of common stock at a price of $18 per share. (The company is selling 3,125,000 shares and stockholders are selling 1,562,500 shares; the offering’s underwriters also have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 703,125 shares from EverQuote at $18 apiece.) The IPO price exceeded the company’s earlier projected range of $15 to $17 per share.
EverQuote is hitting the public markets during an especially busy stretch of IPOs spanning a variety of sectors. The deal also continues this year’s tech IPO resurgence, turning around more than two years of weak activity. This year’s newly public tech companies include Spotify (NYSE: [[ticker:SPOT]]) and Dropbox (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DBX]]) in consumer tech, as well as enterprise software providers such as Smartsheet (NYSE: [[ticker:SMAR]]), DocuSign (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DOCU]]), and Carbon Black (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CBLK]]), the Boston area’s first tech IPO of the year.
Consumer tech isn’t Boston’s strong suit, but the local sector has had several successful companies go public in recent years, including TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TRIP]]), Kayak (now owned by Booking Holdings), Wayfair (NYSE: [[ticker:W]]), and CarGurus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CARG]]). EverQuote has work to do to rise to their level, both in terms of valuation and name recognition. Being publicly traded should make the company more visible, at least.
