Boulder-based Foundry Group cashes in on Fitbit initial public offering

Fitbit’s massive $732 million initial public offering was felt in Boulder Thursday and not just because the city is routinely ranked one of the nation’s healthiest.

Boulder venture capital firm Foundry Group, a major Fitbit shareholder, sold more than 7.6 million shares into the IPO, according to a regulatory filing made Thursday. At an IPO price of $20 per share, that meant a payoff of just more than $152 million.

San Francisco-based Fitbit makes wearable fitness trackers that measure everything from a person’s heart rate to the amount of sleep they’re getting.

Foundry Group owned 28.9 percent of the company’s shares, or roughly 52.7 million, before the IPO. If underwriters exercise their option to purchase a full over-allotment, the regulatory filing shows that Foundry Group could wind up offering more than 10.5 million shares, which would increase the firm’s gross proceeds from the IPO to nearly $211 million.

Fitbit shares began trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FIT. They rose nearly 50 percent to close at $29.68, leaving Foundry Group’s current remaining stake in the company at more than $1.3 billion.

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