Figure Technology Solutions Inc., made its public market debut on Thursday with shares opening at $36 on the Nasdaq under the symbol FIGR.
The IPO valued the company at $7.6 billion, a sharp rise from the initial $25 offering price that set valuation at $5.3 billion. Investors quickly pushed trading volume, but now the token is trading for $30.33.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the offering included 23 million Class A common shares sold by the company and nearly 8 million more from existing shareholders, which raised $787.5 million in fresh capital. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Bank of America led the underwriting team, while prominent investors such as Ribbit Capital and Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office also participated.
Figure was co-founded in 2018 by Mike Cagney, the former CEO of SoFi Technologies, who retains control with super-voting Class B shares representing 68.6% of voting power.
“We were actually contemplating going public last year,” Cagney said in an interview with CNBC. “For a whole host of reasons, we didn’t do it. It wasn’t the most hospitable environment for a blockchain company to go public last year. That’s changed a lot.”
The company offers blockchain-powered lending products such as home equity lines of credit, crypto-backed loans, and a digital asset exchange. According to its filings, it has funded more than $16 billion in loans through blockchain rails. Customers for partner-branded HELOC loans recorded an average FICO score of 756, which is higher than the 749 average for Figure-branded loans.
In the six months ending June 30, 2024, Figure earned $29.1 million in profit on $190.6 million in revenue. The year before, it had a loss of $15.6 million on $156 million in revenue. The company is also using artificial intelligence like OpenAI to help check loan applications, while Google Gemini powers chatbots for customer service.
Meanwhile, there are other crypto companies that are lining up to go public. This includes Gemini, BitGo, Grayscale, and Kraken. Gemini has recently filed to raise its IPO price range from $17–$19 to $24–$26.
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