UPDATED 01:29 EDT / OCTOBER 31 2016

NEWS

IPO train keeps chugging as Blackline surges on debut

Shares in enterprise Software as a Service startup Blackline Inc. surged on the Nasdaq Friday in another sign of the markets growing thirst for tech initial public offerings.

Offering shares at $17 each, higher than an initial price guidance of $13 to $15 a share, Blackline closed its first day of trading up 39 percent, to $23.70 a share, after hitting a high of $25.75 a share.

Founded in 2001, Blackline offers a cloud-based SaaS solution designed to automate and control the financial close process, including complex, manual and repetitive accounting processes. The company claims that its platform allows companies to move beyond traditional period-end accounting to what it calls “continuous accounting,” allowing users to deliver accounts as early as possible by embedding them within workflows and day-to-day activities. Its software integrates with NetSuite, Oracle, SAP and Workday. Blackline’s top customers include Coca-Cola Co., Nasdaq, Western Union Holdings Inc., eBay Inc., Under Armour Inc. and Dow Chemical Co.

According to reports, Blackline has become the first ever Los Angeles tech company to go public with a female chief executive officer, and in this case it was veteran Therese Tucker.

Despite having raised some $220 million starting in 2013 from Iconiq Capital, Silver Lake Partners and Silver Lake Sumeru prior to going public, the funding initially wasn’t there for a company that started in the pre-cloud era but shifted to a SaaS model.

“I funded the company up until 2013, and there were some very difficult times,” Tucker told Business Insider. “I ended up putting in everything that I had into it. First the nest egg from my options from my previous company. But then I drained my bank accounts and my 401(k). I told my kids, had I been able to access their college savings funds, I probably would have taken that, too. I second-mortgaged my house. I maxed out my credit cards. I begged from friends to cover payroll.

“It was difficult and humiliating and scary. I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to be a woman in my 40s who’s bankrupt and starting over,'” she added.

The company today now employs 490 people and in 2015 reported annual revenue of $83.6 million. Post-IPO, Tucker retains a 13 percent stake in the company valued at approximately $150 million.

Image credit: Blackline

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