Waystar's Nasdaq debut slips after pricing IPO at the middle of the range.

• Health-care payments company Waystar began trading on the Nasdaq Friday.
• The company priced its IPO at $21.50, and the stock opened at $21 per share.
• In the quarter ending March 31, Waystar reported a 18% increase in revenue from the previous year, totaling $224.8 million.

On Friday, Waystar's Nasdaq debut saw their stock slide about 3%, despite pricing their IPO in the middle of the anticipated range.

In May, Waystar stated that its expected price per share would be between $20 and $23, while the stock opened at $21 per share, below the IPO price of $21.50.

Since late 2021, the IPO market has been mostly inactive due to concerns about a weakening economy and a lack of willingness among technology companies to go public. No digital health companies had a public exit in 2023, as reported by Rock Health.

The broader venture-backed tech market may be showing signs of thawing, with several companies going public this year, including a social media platform, a data center connectivity chip vendor, a data software management maker, and a health tech company Tempus AI.

The market cap of Waystar, based on its initial share price, is approximately $3.5 billion, with the stock trading under the ticker symbol "WAY."

Waystar, founded in 2017 through the merger of Navicure and ZirMed, provides health-care payment and revenue cycle management tools and processes over 5 billion payment transactions annually, as stated in its prospectus.

Matt Hawkins, CEO of Waystar, expressed excitement about becoming a public company because he believes it will enhance awareness, credibility, capital structure, and enable additional investments in generative AI, as stated on CNBC's "The Exchange" on Friday.

In the quarter ending March 31, Waystar's revenue increased by 18% to $224.8 million from $191.1 million in the previous year, while the company reported a net loss of $15.9 million, compared to $10.6 million in the same period last year.

The offering is being led by and , and the company plans to use the proceeds to pay off existing debt.

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