Marketing Automation Provider Klaviyo Stock Shoots Higher On Trading Debut

Marketing and data automation provider Klaviyo Inc KVYO stock is trading higher by 16% on its trading debut.

The company priced its initial public offering above expectations, raising $576 million. Klaviyo's shares opened at $36.75, beating the market expectations of $34 - $36.

The IPO saw Klaviyo and some of its current investors sell 19.2 million shares for $30 each, surpassing their earlier marketing range of $27 to $29 per share. 

This development gives the Boston-based company a fully diluted value of approximately $9 billion, Bloomberg reports.

While Klaviyo may not be as well-known as recent IPOs like Arm Holdings Plc  ARM and Maplebear Inc CART Instacart, Wall Street views it as a more traditional technology IPO. 

The company specializes in email marketing for other businesses. Like Arm and Instacart, Klaviyo secured cornerstone investors to support its listing. BlackRock, Inc BLK and AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. AB showed interest in purchasing up to $100 million worth of IPO shares collectively, according to Klaviyo's filings with the U.S. SEC.

Klaviyo's investor roster includes growth equity firm Summit Partners, e-commerce giant Shopify Inc SHOP, and venture firms Accomplice and Accel. 

Financially, Klaviyo has shown positive growth, with approximately $15 million in net income and $321 million in revenue for the first half of this year, compared to a loss of $25 million on $208 million in revenue during the same period in the previous year.

The company's largest shareholder will remain co-founder and CEO Andrew Bialecki, who will maintain control over 39% of the voting power, followed by Summit with 21%, according to the filings. Bialecki, 37, founded the company in 2012 after studying physics, astronomy, and astrophysics at Harvard.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS, Morgan Stanley MS, and Citigroup Inc C will lead the IPO. 

Price Action: KVYO shares traded higher by 15.10% at $34.51 on the last check Wednesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.