Digital wellness platform LifeSpeak completed its $90-million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday—also raising $35 million in a secondary offering. Its shares, priced at $10 each, started trading under the symbol LSPK and closed down 15 per cent to $8.50.  

Setting the scene: Canadian firms turning to public markets have faced a mixed reception in recent months after a runup of record–breaking and upsized IPOs. Biofuels firm Anaergia, which uses its technology to convert organic waste into renewable materials, lowered its expected raise from $200 million to $175 million last month. In June, Toronto-based Q4 paused its plans for an $150-million IPO. In late May, Saskatoon’s Vendasta also halted its IPO bid and opted to raise $119.5 million in a new financing round, instead. Meanwhile, a shareholder group sought to take Dye & Durham private less than a year after the company’s public debut. Other companies—including VerticalScope, which upsized its offering, and Softchoice—still found success in their public offerings.

Why go public: LifeSpeak, which said it rejected several acquisition offers over the years, felt this was the right time for the company to go public, in part, to build its balance sheet. The company sees itself as a “front door to the corporate health and well-being system,” said its board chair Nolan Bederman, and wants to pursue several acquisitions. The company also plans to use the proceeds to invest in its global growth—with the U.K. and Europe as its next big targets beyond Canada and the U.S.—and increase its headcount.

Lessons from the roadshow: “I think the biggest thing … through the roadshow was the focus on us being a fundamental business,” said founder and chief executive Michael Held, noting investors appreciated the company’s rapid global growth and profitability. “Those things really, really mattered in a way that was, I think, really critical at this juncture of a fatigued IPO market.” 

Investors seem to think there were too many IPOs recently, added Bederman. “I think we’re probably the last one to be done for a while—so we’ve been told.”