Inogen files IPO to raise up to $86.2M
Goleta-based Inogen, a maker of portable oxygen concentrators founded by UC Santa Barbara students, has filed for an initial public offering to raise up to $86.2 million.
The company filed papers Nov. 27 to offer shares that would be listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol “INGN.”
Inogen notched 354 percent revenue growth between 2009 and 2012, bringing 2012 sales to $48.6 million and eking out a modest profit. For the first nine months of this year, revenue expanded to $55.7 million, and profits stand at $3.9 million.
Inogen was founded in 2001 by three UCSB students, one of whom had a grandmother who had recently been placed on oxygen therapy. The therapy required heavy, bulky oxygen tanks that could not be taken on airplanes and other places.
After winning the New Venture Competition business plan contest at UCSB, the team went on to develop a device that used electricity to concentrate oxygen from the air. The concentrators were lighter and less bulky, weighting between 4.8 and 7 pounds.
Inogen underwent a major overhaul in 2009, switching to selling and renting its devices directly to consumers. In its filings, the company said it is the only portable oxygen concentrator in the U.S. that sells directly to its customers.
In 2012, the company received $20 million in private equity financing from Novo A/S. Inogen’s other investors include Versant Ventures, Accuitive Medical Ventures, Avalon Ventures and Arboretum Ventures.
J.P. Morgan is acting as lead book-runner for the offering, Leerink Swann is acting as lead manager, and William Blair and Stifel are acting as co-managers.
