Ahead of its IPO on Thursday, Rubrik (RBRK) said: In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, we can protect data — and ultimately make a lot of money from it. And it worked. Rubrik shares rose 17% to $37 by the close of the day on Wall Street. It was a hot reaction to yet another play in the artificial intelligence ecosystem, similar to the appetite for Reddit’s (RDDT) recently released stock just a few weeks earlier.
And it was a hot reaction to yet another play in the artificial intelligence ecosystem, similar to the appetite for Reddit’s (RDDT) recently released stock just a few weeks earlier.
«We have been preparing for this moment for several years, and the market has been receptive» — Rubrik co-founder, chairman and CEO Bipul Sinha told Yahoo Finance.
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Shares of the cybersecurity company were valued at $32 late Wednesday, above the top end of the expected range. Shares opened trading at $38.60. The elevated IPO raised $752 million for Rubrik’s expansion plans, and the company’s initial valuation was $5.6 billion. Just this January, Rubrik, which Microsoft (MSFT) has been investing in since 2021, raised a Series E round that valued the company at $3.3 billion. That round was led by Bain, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock and Khosla Ventures. In a previous 2017 round, the company was valued at about $1.8 billion.
An earlier round in 2017 valued the company at about $1.8 billion.
The key part of Rubrik — is its high-ranking technical expert Sinha. The former engineer has spent a lot of time in the venture capital industry. As a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sinha invested in companies like Nutanix (NTNX) and Pulse News. (Lightspeed is now Rubrik’s majority shareholder, holding 24.9% of outstanding shares.) He has also held engineering positions at Oracle (ORCL) and IBM (IBM). Sinha founded Rubrik in 2014, working in coffee shops near the offices of Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and YouTube in an effort to hire top developers.
He’s been working in coffee shops near the offices of Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and YouTube in an effort to hire top developers.
He makes no secret of his humble upbringing, which served as the impetus for creating the business. «Maximal thinking —is how I pulled myself out of poverty» — Sinha wrote in a letter published in the company’s IPO prospectus. «He—s the epitome of the American dream». co-founder and Lightspeed Venture Partner Ravi Mhatra told Yahoo Finance. Sinha said he remains as hungry as ever despite the newfound focus on Rubrik and its future.
Sinha said.
Although the cybersecurity market is still in growth mode, Rubrik will have to prove its worth to Wall Street. The company posted a loss of $354 million for the twelve months ended January 31, 2024, despite subscription revenue rising 40% to $537.9 million. For the twelve months ended January 31, 2023, the loss was $278 million. The company said in its prospectus that it has had losses in every period since its inception. «Profits are paramount», — Sinha acknowledged, but he declined to give an exact timeline for when those profits will appear on the balance sheet.
Sinha said the company’s earnings will be recognized.
By ForGeeks 
