By Sophia Kunthara,
Warby Parker’s stock price popped 35 percent on its first day of trading, opening at $54.05 on Wednesday.
The eyeglass company went public through a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the second major direct listing this week (following Amplitude). The company had set a reference price of $40.
As a private company, Warby Parker raised $535 million in funding from investors including Tiger Global Management, General Catalyst, Menlo Ventures and T. Rowe Price. The company last raised funding with a $120 million Series G round led by D1 Capital Partners in August 2020.
The company reported revenue of $270.5 million for the six-month period that ended on June 30, 2021, representing 53 percent growth year over year. During the same six-month time period, its net losses shrunk from about $10 million in 2020 to about $7.3 million in 2021.
Warby Parker is one of several venture-backed consumer brands to go public this year, including Rover and FIGS. It’s also one of a handful of VC-backed companies to go public through a direct listing, following companies like Roblox, Coinbase, and Amplitude.
Source : https://news.crunchbase.com/news/warby-parker-stock-pops-direct-listing/