Online freelancer hiring platform Upwork prices IPO at $15, high end of price range

Mountain View, California-based freelance platform Upwork Inc (NASDAQ:UPWK) priced its initial public offering late Tuesday at $15 a share, the high end of its $12 to $14 price range.

Upwork, which operates an online platform for companies to hire and work with independent professionals, said it would sell about 12.48 million shares to raise at least $187.1 million at a valuation topping $1.5 billion.

Shares will start trading Wednesday morning on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “UPWK”.

Underwriters, led by Citigroup, have access to almost 1.9 million additional shares in case of overallotment.

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Hiring managers like the fact that Upwork goes the extra mile to verify freelance marketers, designers, developers and other professionals on their website. It provides Upwork Enterprise, a freelancer management system that enables companies to access qualified independent talent. 

According to the company, its online marketplace consists of 375,000 registered freelancers and 475,000 client businesses in more than 180 countries. The site racked up a gross payment volume of nearly US$1.4bn in the 2017 financial year, which was a 19% jump over the prior period.

The company was formerly known as Elance-oDesk, and changed its name to Upwork Inc in May 2015.

Contact Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive 

Story by ProactiveInvestors