By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Initial public offerings keep surprising.
Curevac Bv (NASDAQ:CVAC), a German biopharmaceutical company working on a coronavirus vaccine, opened Friday at $44 after pricing at $16. Meanwhile, fintech insurer Duck Creek Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:DCT) opened at $42 after pricing at $27.
They are the latest companies to blast through pricing in their first day of trading. Last month, insurance start-up Lemonade Inc (NYSE:LMND) saw shares jump as much as 144% upon going public. Also in July, Bigcommerce Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BIGC) rose 292% on its opening.
Trying to price an IPO isn't easy, Santosh Rao, head of research at Manhattan Venture Partners, told Marketplace last year. “Pricing, in general, at a very high level, is more an art than science,” said Rao.
CureVac has been backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the past. It is focused on using messenger RNA to treat diseases. The company raised more than $213 million in its IPO.
Duck Creek's $405 million IPO was oversubscribed, according to IPO Boutique. The company provides a software-as-a-service platform, or SaaS, for the property and casualty insurance industry.
Among its 150 customers are Progressive (NYSE:PGR), Liberty Mutual, AIG (NYSE:AIG) and Geico.