Twilio IPO Exceeds Expectations

Twilio (TWLO), the cloud communications startup that is one of the few tech companies taking the IPO plunge so far this year, set its initial price at a whopping $150 million. The company reported on Wednesday that it sold 10 million shares for $15 apiece, higher than the $12 to $14 range it had marketed to investors.

The 2016 technology market has been rough on startups looking to embark on an initial public offering, and many of the unicorns—companies with a valuation of over #1 billion—of the last couple of years have elected to stay private rather than risk devaluation. If successful, Twilio’s IPO may be the stimulant that the tech market needs for other startups to brave the IPO waters.

The communications software startup is a representative test case for the multitudes of unicorns that are waiting for the market to shift in their favor before embarking on their own public offering. Though Twilio reported 88 percent revenue growth over the last year, it’s yet to turn a profit.

Twilio was valued at slightly over $1 billion as of its latest funding round in July. With the IPO, the startup will have a market capitalization of $1.2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.