Leading a startup to any success takes a large investment of time and passion. For some startups, there is one hurdle that, once passed, is an official sign that they have made it — going public. The world’s eyes are on you after that initial public offering (IPO), and it comes with a whole different set of considerations and challenges. Here are the UCSB startups that were up to the challenge.

All IPO figures were obtained from Pitchbook.

1. Lunglife AI (LON: LLAI) – $23.68 M

LungLife AI, formerly known as Cynvenio Biosystems, was co-founded in 2007 by Nobel prize winner and UCSB professor Alan Heeger to harness the power of artificial intelligence for early detection of lung cancer from a single blood draw. LungLife AI’s flagship product, the LungLB® Test is a non-invasive monitoring tool to provide clinicians information to make the best decision for patient treatment.

In July 2021, Lunglife AI (LLAI) raised $23.68 million (17 million GBP) in its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, with a total of 9,659,091 shares sold at a price of GBP 1.76 per share. You may remember this from our 2021 Summer Funding Review.

2. Inogen (NASDAQ: INGN) –  $70.588M

After their idea took top spot at the 2001 New Venture Competition, Inogen Inc. was founded by four Gauchos — Alison Bauerlein, Brenton Taylor, and Byron Myers. Inogen develops portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) that provide independence to their users. The story of Inogen began with Alison wanting to improve the life of her grandmother Mae who required supplemental oxygen. The Inogen One system is a portable, lightweight alternative to stationary oxygen concentrator systems and oxygen tanks, improving millions of oxygen therapy users like Mae globally.

In February 2014, Innogen (INGN) raised $70.588 million in its IPO on NASDAQ, with a total of 4,411,763 shares sold at a price of $16.

3. CytomX Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CTMX) – $80M, $100M

CytomX Therapeutics was founded in 2008 by Frederick Gluck, Nancy Stagliano, and UCSB Chemical Engineering professor Patrick Daugherty to provide individualized therapeutic treatment. Based on technology licensed from UCSB, CytomX developed its proprietary Probody® platform for cancer immunotherapies to prevent damage to healthy tissue during treatment.

CytomX (CTMX) raised $80 million in its IPO in October 2015, with a total of 6,666,667 shares sold at a price of $12. In January 2021, CytomX raised another $100 million in its second public offering, with 14,285,714 shares sold at a price of $7 per share.

4. Olaplex (NASDAQ: OLPX) – $1.55 billion

The largest and most recent IPO comes from Olaplex, a premium hair care company founded in 2014 by Dean and Darcy Christal using technology developed by UCSB professor Craig Hawker and student Eric Pressly to prevent bleaching and coloring agents from breaking disulfide bonds in hair. The concept turned out to be seriously in-demand; now Olaplex develops and manufactures bond-building shampoos, conditioners, and specialty repair treatments with its patented technology that are a favorite of many A-list celebrities.

Just about a month ago, Olaplex (OLPLX) raised an impressive $1.55 billion in its IPO, with a total of 73,700,000 shares sold at $21 per share. The company is now valued at a very serious $13.61 billion.