(Bloomberg) — UiPath Inc. climbed in its trading debut, opening at $65.50 after the automation software maker and its shareholders raised $1.3 billion in an initial public offering.
The shares were up 20% at 12:38 p.m. in New York, giving UiPath a market valuation of $35 billion and a fully diluted value, including employee stock options and restricted stock units, of about $38 billion. The company and investors sold almost 24 million shares on Tuesday for $56 each.
The stock priced above a marketed range, but gave the company a lower value than it reached in a February funding round.
UiPath raised $750 million in that fundraising round, valuing it at $35 billion. The round was led by Alkeon Capital and Coatue, according to a statement at the time. A dip in some software stocks since then — including Snowflake Inc., which is down 18% from Feb. 1 — played a part in the IPO pricing decision, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information was private.
That valuation was still triple that in July, when the company said it was valued at $10.2 billion in a funding round, up from a valuation of $7 billion in a 2019 round.
In the IPO, UiPath sold about 9.4 million shares while shareholders including its chairman and backers Accel and Alphabet Inc.’s investment fund offered 14.5 million, according to its filings.
Started in an apartment in Romania with 10 people in 2005, UiPath now has a presence in close to 30 countries, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Daniel Dines wrote in a letter to investors. “Starting a company from a small place with no market has a hidden advantage: It forces you to think globally from day one,” he wrote.
CEO’s Control
Dines, who is also chairman, owns all of UiPath’s Class B shares, which represent 88.2% of the voting power in the company, the filing shows.
UiPath, now based in New York, reported a net loss of $92 million on $608 million revenue in the 2021 fiscal year ending Jan. 31. Its net loss narrowed from $520 million a year ago thanks to foreign exchange gains. It had $336 million in revenue a year earlier.
The offering was led by Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.. UiPath‘s shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PATH.
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