Twilio’s NYSE Debut: The Largest Tech IPO (Thus Far) of 2016

On Thursday, cloud communications software provider Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, whose offering was priced at $15 per share the night before the opening, closed at the end of its first day of trading at $29 per share. The jump doubled the company’s value and potentially set far rosier expectations for tech IPOs for the balance of 2016.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Twilio helps companies communicate better with customers using its web service APIs, which enable software developers to integrate voice, video, messaging and authentication functions into their applications. The company boasts a robust list of well-known client names, including Coca Cola, Nordstrom and Intuit.

The tech IPO market has been in a bit of a holding pattern thus far this year, but Twilio’s debut, coming the day of the Brexit vote, could re-shape expectations for other Silicon Valley unicorns. Following Thursday’s close, Twilio’s valuation hit $2.4 billion. The company’s CEO and founder Jeff Lawson, who has an 11 percent Twilio stake, is expected to boost his net worth by more than $100 million. And Bessemer Venture Partners, which funded Twilio’s seed round and has invested a total of $70 million, emerges with a post-IPO stake of close to $700 million.