Newport Beach-based start-up Veritone Inc. began trading today on the NASDAQ Capital Markets after raising $37.5 million in an initial public offering.
It’s the second IPO in Orange County this week and the second public exit in OC’s diverse technology sector in less than two months after several years without one.
Investors were unimpressed, sending shares down about 4% in early afternoon trading to a share price of $14.35. Its market value was not available on the Nasdaq.
Veritone is trading under the symbol VERI.
The company posted sales of $8.9 million last year, primarily through its ad-placement business, but aims to ultimately provide artificial intelligence insights through audio, video and structured data.
Veritone was established in 2014 by Chad and Ryan Steelberg, who are seeking their fourth hit in OC.
The company last year sold a minority stake to Acacia Research Corp., a Newport Beach-based company that primarily licenses patents.
Veritone sold 2.5 million shares in the IPO and its underwriter, Wunderlich Securities Inc., has a 30-day option to buy an additional 375,000 shares. The company had projected to sell about 1.25 million shares in prior guidance and raise about $16 million.
On Wednesday Aliso Viejo-based real estate developer FivePoint Communities Inc. went public, raising close to $300 million.
Irvine-based analytics software maker Alteryx Inc. raised $114 million in net proceeds from its March 24 IPO. Its market value is about $1 billion.
The Alteryx IPO was the first in Orange County since June 2015 when Glaukos Corp. in San Clemente raised about $188 million, and the first local tech IPO since December 2013 when Irvine-based Kofax raised $11 million after years on the London stock exchange.
