As the coronavirus spread in March, Vroom, a startup that sells used vehicles online, shelved its plans to go public and rushed to shore up its operations.
But with many dealerships closed under shelter-in-place orders, people started buying more cars online, benefiting Vroom with record sales in March and April, the company said.
“We saw the whole world stabilizing,” said Paul Hennessy, the chief executive. “At the end of April, we said, ‘OK, maybe we should actually go on the offensive here.’”
Vroom, which is based in New York, capped that offensive by going public last week. Its share price more than doubled on the first day of trading as the company raised $495 million from its offering.
Vroom is part of a group of startups that has moved quickly to go public as the initial shock of the coronavirus has worn off. The stock market, which plummeted when the outbreak swept the United States, has rallied strongly in recent weeks. Since its nadir in late March, the S&P 500 index has climbed 40%.
As the market has bounced back, SelectQuote, an online insurance provider; ZoomInfo, a sales software data provider; Warner Music Group, a record label; and Vroom have gone public. And more initial public offerings are on the way.
Lemonade, an insurance startup valued at $2.1 billion, announced last week that it had confidentially filed to go public. DoubleDown Interactive, a mobile gaming company, also filed to go public this month. Read the full story here.
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