Booms & Busts for VCs in Q4 IPOs

Forget Facebook’s face-plant: now it’s enterprise service firms and semiconductor companies that have institutional investors’ ears at IPO time. 2012’s fourth quarter showcased some successful IPOs, so far. PeHUB tracks the latest companies to try to mint VCs millions on public markets.

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[slide title=”Ambarella”]
Ambarella went public earlier this month, raising $36 million. Backers include Benchmark and Walden International, according to Thomson Reuters data. Judging by its share performance so far, it’s so far so good for the California-based maker of semiconductors used in video recording.

Image Credit: Ambarella

[slide title=”KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals”]
Arch Venture Partners and Versant Ventures were among the backers that brought California clinical biopharma company KYTHERA public in October, raising $70.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters data. Just like Ambarella, shares have done well to date.

Image Credit: KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals

[slide title=”Intercept Pharmaceuticals”]

Intercept Pharmaceuticals went public earlier this month and has been treading water so far. According to Thomson Reuters, backers that include OrbiMed Advisors covered the New York-based biopharma’s early stages before its $75 million IPO earlier this month. Fueled with new capital, the company will look to treat chronic liver disease.

Image Credit: Intercept Pharmaceuticals

[slide title=”LifeLock”]
LifeLock, the Arizona-based provider of identity protection services, disappointed when it priced below range at $9 per share earlier this month, raising more than $140 million, according to Thomson Reuters data. Since then, boldface backers including Bessemer, KPCB, Biltmore Ventures and Great Hill Partners have been even more disappointed, watching shares slide toward $7 each.

Image Credit: LifeLock

[slide title=”Workday”]
Just a couple of weeks after its IPO, the Pleasanton, Calif., cloud-based enterprise services company Workday is looking good. However, VCs like Greylock and NEA (according to Thomson Reuters data) are holding on and hoping that the biggest VC IPO of Q4, at more than $600 million, continues growing past its new $8 billion market cap.

Image Credit: Workday

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