Twilio stock closes at $28.53, jumping more than 90% in first day of trading

Twilio (TWLO) ended its first day as a public company with a bang. Shares in the cloud communication company rose more than 90 percent to close at $28.53, a feat that beat analyst expectations and comes after the company originally priced its shares at $15. It currently has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion.

Company chief executive and cofounder Jeff Lawson told VentureBeat, “This is another major milestone for Twilio and a point in time in our long term plan. We built the company to the point where the IPO made sense to us, and we’re looking forward to the next decade and beyond as a successful public company.”

If you’re interested, Lawson owns 10.4 percent of Twilio, and it’s estimated that after today, his stake is worth more than $246.4 million.

Trading began on the New York Stock Exchange this morning with shareholders increasing their bids for a piece of the company. Soon after filing its S-1 statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it was estimated to have a price range between $12 and $14. Then on the eve of its public offering, it moved to $15. Finally today, it opened at $23.99, a nearly 60 percent increase.

As we’ve mentioned before, Twilio took this opportunity to make its first day unique, and this includes taking a group photo using a selfie stick prior to ringing the bell to open the market and hosting a “code jam” on the floor of the exchange. The company had three developers on hand to code as many apps as they could, including one that allowed you to call Hodor (from Game of Thrones), only to be put on hold by the giant himself; a number you can call to receive any stock price by text; and an SMS directory of your congressional representatives you can text.

In an example of its potential, Twilio even had a veteran stock trader produce an app in just six minutes.

Wall Street analysts have been keeping a close eye on Twilio’s performance, as it could signal what’s next in terms of tech companies going public. Will others follow in its footsteps or will they slow things down, fearing that the market might be too volatile?