Raspberry Pi has become the latest British tech company to achieve unicorn status after the computing firm wooed investors with its London flotation.
On Tuesday the The Cambridge-based business, which makes small single-board computers, priced its shares at 280p in its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, raising £166 million from the listing with the terms suggesting a valuation of £541.6 million.
But shares in the company soared by as much as 40% to 390p within minutes of markets opening.
Today the firm’s stock climbed further still and peaked at 420p, thereby surpassing the $1 billion market cap threshold to achieve unicorn status.
Eben Upton, chief executive of Raspberry Pi, said: “The quality of the interactions during the marketing process has underlined our belief that London has the right calibre and sophistication of investor to support growing, ambitious technology businesses such as Raspberry Pi.”
It’s hoped that a successful float could open the floodgates to more major tech IPOs. Several London-based businesses, including fintechs Zilch and Zopa, have announced plans for IPOs but have yet to choose a date or settle on London as their preferred exchange, while several London-listed tech businesses, including cybersecurity giant Darktrace, have opted to quit the public markets in search of higher valuations elsewhere.
Vishal Marria, CEO of London tech firm Quantexa and member of the UK’s unicorn council told the Standard: “A lot of companies like Quantexa will be looking at what happens to Raspberry Pi. That would bring some positivity back here in the UK which we need.
“As a strategy, the UK needs to take a step back and ask, do we want to be a country that is fantastic for starting up companies and then allowing them to go to the US or do we want to be a country that is fantastic at starting companies and also supporting those founders to scaling up those companies and eventually list in the UK.
“There’s a set of policy changes that needs to happen to encourage those businesses through that journey.”
