Pexip, a Norwegian video conferencing platform, wrapped up a $200 million IPO in May that saw a terrific response from investors in spite of – or perhaps because of – the coronavirus crisis that pushed the deal into the virtual arena after just a few in-person meetings.
The stock soared on its May 14 debut, but how to celebrate the open without being able to ring the bell in person for the cameras at the Oslo Stock Exchange? Answer: one video conference platform and a lot of old-school couriers.
Interviewing chief executive Odd Sverre Østlie (OS to his friends) via his company’s own platform, Euromoney was intrigued by a bell sitting behind him next to a Pexip-branded mug. Might that have been the IPO bell?
“Yes, this is the bell – and we have about 229 other similar bells,” said OS. “We shipped a bell to every employee in the 18 countries we have staff in, and everyone rang it on a video call when the stock opened.”
Did he miss being there in person?
Not really.
“This way I shared the moment with the entire company instead of just a few executives,” he says.