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A disappointment to the company : raised less than planned, but saw its share price double on its first day’s trading .
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Israeli Exoskeleton maker ReWalk Robotics (formerly known as Argo Medical Technologies), a builder of wearable for paraplegics, raised $36 million in its initial public offering. It will trade as “RWLK” on the Nasdaq.
This was a disappointment because the company had originally aimed to raise $58 million at a company value of $250-300 million, after money, by selling 4 million shares at $13-14 each.
After IPO the share price was more than doubled, rising 113.33% in its first day of trading to $25.60, and was up a further 5.08% in aftermarket trading to $26.90.
A further $5.5 million may also receive with underwriters including Barclays Capital and Jefferies has an option to buy an additional 450, 000 shares.
Founded in 2001 by Dr. Amit Goffer, 61, the company President and VP CTO, who had previously founded Odin, which was sold to Medtronic for $9 million. Dr. Goffer was involved in an accident that left him paralyzed. Ways of getting out of his wheelchair led him to set up Argo. Gofer holds a 3.7% stake in ReWalk.
ReWalk sells two products designed to help people who are paralyzed from the waist down regain mobility:
ReWalk Personal, is a custom-fit exoskeleton to be worn at home and at work. The device costs $60-70, 000. And ReWalk Rehabilitation, for clinics and hospitals for rehabilitation therapy. The company has marketed the product in hospitals earning $1.6 million revenue in 2013 and a loss of $12.2 million.
The battery-powered suit is designed for people with full or partial paralysis in their legs, but who retain mobility in their torso and arms. The ReWalk exoskeleton can support itself, as well as the person wearing it. ReWalk’s signature is a “tilt sensor” technology: As the wearer tilts their body forward, sensors on the device translate that shift to a step.
The movements allowed by the suit include sitting, standing, walking and sometimes climbing stairs.
ReWalk has offices in Malborough, Mass., Germany, and Israel. Its products have been on sale in Europe since 2012. In June this year, the company received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for ReWalk Personal. It sold its first unit in the US July this year.
