Minnesota’s second IPO in a week occurred on Thursday as shares of obstructive sleep apnea device maker Inspire Medical Systems premiered on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘INSP’ ticker symbol.
 
Investors flocked to company’s stock, propelling the per share price above $25 — a more than 50 percent jump from the $16 per share price offered at the start of Inspire’s IPO.
 
The Maple Grove-based medtech firm raised more from its IPO than the three offerings conducted by local companies last year altogether. Cumulatively, the three 2017 IPOs (from ASV Holdings Inc., Tactile Systems Technology Inc. and Calyxt Inc.) generated just under $93 million. Inspire's public offering, however, brought in $108 million from the 6.75 million shares it sold.
 
Inspire originally began as a sleep apnea project within Medtronic before it spun out of the medtech giant in 2007. Sales of its flagship product, a pacemaker-sized device that stimulates a patient’s hypoglossal nerve to prevent snoring, have rapidly grown in recent years — from $8 million in 2015 to more than $28.5 million in 2017. Just last year, Inspire placed 69th overall on the Inc. 5000 list ranking the fastest-growing private companies in the nation.
 
Most of the money Inspire raises from its public offering will go toward hiring additional sales and marketing personnel, the company said in a filing. Seventy-two of Inspire’s 121 employees today work within its sales and marketing division, yet the company believes there’s opportunity to grow, particularly overseas. A portion of that IPO capital, Inspire said, would be used to expand its marketing efforts not only in the U.S. but in Europe. Last year, Europe made up 15 percent of its sales with the rest coming from the U.S.
 
Much of the remaining cash from Inspire’s offering, it noted, would go toward research and development. From its IPO filing, Inspire said it was working to “develop our next generation Inspire systems and support our future regulatory submissions for expanded indications and for new markets such as Japan.” The company’s flagship device has been available in the U.S. under pre-market approval since 2014 and was made commercially available in Europe in 2011.
 
What cash remains from its IPO, according to Inspire, would be used for “working capital” and general corporate expenses.
 
Earlier in the week, nVent Electric plc went public via spin-off from Pentair. Prior to that, last Thursday, was human resources software company Ceridian’s IPO.