Tracking app company Life360 goes public

Life360, Inc., a tech firm that helps people keep track of the whereabouts of their loved ones and belongings, made its public debut Thursday.

The company made its initial public offering at $27 per share under the ticker LIF on the Nasdaq, and co-founder and CEO Chris Hulls rang the opening bell.

Life360’s popular app of the same name allows family members to track each other’s whereabouts and has around 66 million active users globally. The San Francisco-based company also owns Jiobit, a tracking device for kids, elderly loved ones and pets, and Tile, a suite of products for tracking devices.

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The inspiration for Life360 came after Hurricane Katrina, when the founders saw families impacted by the disaster were unable to find each other, Hulls told FOX Business in an interview. So, they built a prototype of the app meant for emergencies, then realized families could use the app to share locations for safety and communication purposes on a daily basis.

Life360 CEO Chris Hulls says his company receives success stories from happy customers on a daily basis. (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Hulls says the company now hears success stories from its users on a daily basis.

“We get testimonials like, ‘My son was driving on a country road, got in an accident, knocked unconscious. And if it weren’t for your app detecting it — calling 911, helping us with that situation — we wouldn’t have found out. Then, he might have passed away. Thank you for saving my kid’s life,'” he recalled. “So, that is obviously a great validation of our mission and makes us feel really good about what we’re up to.”

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Life360 is now among the top five social networking apps in the U.S. and has a substantial free user base. But it believes it has only scratched the surface in terms of market penetration.

Last year, Life360 reported $304.5 million in revenue, an increase of 33% year over year, and its subscription revenue was up 44% year over year.

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Only one in eight Life360 users are paying customers, and the company aims to boost its subscriber base significantly as it continues to add more features. The firm will also integrate advertising into the free version of its app this year as an additional source of revenue.