Cybersecurity company Netskope made a strong debut on the Nasdaq. The stock closed its first day of trading 18 percent higher at $22.49, after an intraday peak of $24.40.
This was reported by Bloomberg. The company raised $908 million by selling 47.8 million shares at $19 each. Previously, the estimate was between $15 and $17 per share.
The listing values Netskope at approximately $8.6 billion. Founded in 2012 and based in Santa Clara, the company develops the cloud-native SASE platform Netskope One. This solution runs on bare metal servers in more than 120 data centers worldwide.
It is used for secure access to business applications, network isolation, and data security. Employees log in via the Netskope One Client, which provides both connectivity and risk detection. The built-in Zero Trust Engine analyzes data traffic with AI to block suspicious activity early on.
According to CEO and co-founder Sanjay Beri, who previously held leadership positions at Juniper Networks and Ingrian Networks, Netskope is responding to the need to reinvent both networks and security for the cloud and AI era.
Strong growth
Netskope is growing rapidly. The company reported annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $707 million at the end of July, an increase of 33 percent over a year earlier. In the first half of this year, revenue was $328 million, up 31 percent from last year. Net loss decreased from $207 million to $170 million in the same period. Beri indicated that profitability is not the immediate focus, but that positive cash flow is the most important metric.
Netskope’s IPO confirms the revival of the US IPO market, which had been sluggish for years since the coronavirus pandemic. This year, technology companies in the US have already raised more than $13 billion through IPOs. That is more than double the amount raised in the same period last year. The Renaissance IPO Index, an important benchmark for new IPOs, is up more than 25 percent this year, outperforming the Nasdaq Index, which is up 16 percent.
Recent listings by Gemini Space Station, Figure Technology Solutions, and Firefly Aerospace, among others, also made strong debuts, while StubHub had a weaker start with a 6 percent drop in its share price.
For early investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Iconiq Capital, Accel Partners, and Sequoia Capital, the listing is generating substantial returns. Lightspeed has seen its investment multiply more than fivefold, representing a stake valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
The IPO was led by Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan. Netskope shares are listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol NTSK.