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- Duolingo closed up 36% in the language-app maker’s trading debut Wednesday after pricing its IPO at $102 a share.
- The IPO price was higher than an estimated range that was raised to $95-$100.
- Duolingo, which offers courses for 40 languages, raised $521 million from the offering.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Shares of Duolingo soared during their trading debut Wednesday, with the language-learning app maker raising $521 million after its IPO priced higher than anticipated.
The company, which offers courses in 40 languages, along with some of its investors sold more than 5.1 million shares. The IPO late Tuesday was priced at $102.
The Nasdaq-listed stock closed up by 36% to $139.01, on volume of more than 2.8 million shares. The shares jumped to a high of $145 after opening at $141.00. The stock trades under the ticker DUOL.
The IPO price exceeded an estimated price range of $95-$100 per share that had already been bumped up from a previous estimate of $85-$95.
Duolingo’s debut carried an implied valuation of $4.7 billion. Its last confirmed valuation before going public was $2.4 billion.
Duolingo comes to market with 1.8 million paying subscribers and 40 million monthly users. The company in its regulatory prospectus said revenue climbed by 97% to $55.4 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared with $28.1 million a year earlier.
72% of its revenue came from subscriptions, which allows users to learn in an ad-free environment, along with other features.
Duolingo is backed by CapitalG, an investment fund under Google’s parent company Alphabet.
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