Lightspeed Shares Soar in Debut After $179 Million IPO

Lightspeed Shares Soar in Debut After $179 Million IPO
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Lightspeed, a software maker for retailers and restaurants, soared in its trading debut after raising $179 million in the biggest IPO by a Canadian tech company in almost nine years, according to Bloomberg. Shares climbed 26 percent from the IPO price. That values the company at about C$1.7 billion.

The share sale is the biggest by a Canadian tech company since Smart Technologies raised $660 million in a 2010 U.S. listing. Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify raised $131 million in its IPO, and is now valued at more than $20 billion. Not all have fared well though: Real Matters, a real estate data and software firm has seen its market share shrink by about two thirds since its 2017 debut.

Lightspeed, which was founded in 2005 and employs more than 700 people, focuses on small and medium-sized businesses. Early investors include Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, the province’s pension fund manager.