By Echo Wang
(Reuters) -Cloud software vendor HashiCorp on Wednesday sold shares in its initial public offering (IPO) above its target range to raise $1.2 billion, a person familiar with the matter said.
HashiCorp priced 15 million shares at $80 per share, the source said. It had planned to sell shares at $68 to $72 apiece.
The IPO values the company at $14 billion.
The source requested not to be identified ahead of an official announcement. HashiCorp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The software maker’s debut comes amid a flurry of major tech listings this year as a number of startups look to capitalize on sky-high investor demand for new, high-growth tech stocks.
HashiCorp began as an open-source project and provides cloud-based software to customers such as Dutch lender ABN AMRO (ABNd.AS) and infrastructure management for Daimler-owned (DAIGn.DE) car marker Mercedes-Benz.
The company was co-founded in 2012 by Mitchell Hashimoto and Armon Dadgar, who met at the University of Washington in 2008. They had worked together on a research project to make cloud technologies, which were then being developed by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), available to scientists.
Based in San Francisco, HashiCorp considers itself “remote-first,” with over 1,650 employees operating across the world.
HashiCorp, whose investors include Mayfield, Franklin Templeton and T Rowe Price, is the latest company trying to take advantage of strong investor demand for high-growth tech stocks.
Software development platform GitLab Inc was valued at nearly $15 billion in its Nasdaq debut last month, while restaurant software provider Toast Inc fetched a valuation of nearly $33 billion in September.
HashiCorp will list its shares on NASDAQ under the symbol “HCP”.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co, J.P. Morgan, Bofa Securities and Citigroup are lead underwriters on the offering.
(Reporting by Echo Wang in Taos, New Mexico; editing by Richard Pullin)
