Upwork Spikes 40% in Its Trading Debut

Upwork shares soar in their trading debut.
By Tony Owusu ,

Upwork Inc. (UPWK) - Get Report   closed trading up more than 40% in its trading debut on the Nasdaq, Wednesday, Oct. 3. 

The initial public offering of the tech company, which connects freelancers with the people looking to hire them, was priced at $15 a share and 12/48 million shares were sold. The indicative price was between $12 and $14. However, the company sold 12.48 million shares at $15 a piece Wednesday.

"We think the market is ready for us and we're ready for the market," CEO Stephane Kasriel told CNBC. "There is a big shift happening in the work force today. The baby boomers are retiring and are much less likely to be freelancers. Millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce, almost half of them do some form of freelancing today."

The company raised at least $187.1 million with Wednesday's debut, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. 

Citigroup was the leading underwriter for the offering. 

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