Duarte-based iPower, an online hydroponic equipment supplier that operates largely in the cannabis industry, raised a tepid $16.8 million in its stock trading debut on May 12. 

The funding raised was 66% below iPower's initial $50 million target. 

The company's stock was priced at $5 a share. It traded as high as $7.67 on volume of 3.8 million shares before closing at $5.74 per share.

Previously, iPower had sought to offer 5 million shares in the $9 to $11 price range. At the midpoint of the proposed range, iPower would have had an enterprise value of $266 million.

On May 7, iPower reduced the size of its IPO to 3 million shares and dropped the price range to $7 to $9, saying the company’s initial public offering would raise $24 million at the midpoint of the proposed trading range of $8 a share, a 52% reduction from the original deal size.
 
iPower, which formed in April 2018, trades under the symbol of IPW.

Bookrunners for the deal are investment bankers Roth Capital Partners of Newport Beach, D.A. Davidson & Co. of Great Falls, Mont., and Tiger Brokers, a Beijing-based online brokerage that caters to Chinese investors.

iPower recently disclosed details on a dispute with Irvine-based investment banking firm Boustead Securities Ltd., following termination of an agreement with Boustead, according to an amended prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The dispute could lead to litigation, according to the May 5 prospectus.

iPower Chief Executive Chenlong Tan and Dan McClory, Boustead’s head of equity capital markets, have declined to comment.

iPower booked profits of $3.3 million on sales of $66.1 million in 2020.

The company said it is one of the largest online hydroponic equipment suppliers in the U.S., selling more than 22,000 different items on its retail website, Zenhydro.com. The products are used to grow vegetables, fruits, flowers and cannabis. Orders are fulfilled from two fulfillment centers totaling about 72,000 square feet of warehouse space in Southern California.

iPower sells its products through third-party distribution channels including Amazon, eBay and Walmart. Roughly 75% of iPower’s sales are generated over these three platforms, with a quarter coming from Zenhydro.com

Its private label products, marketed under the iPower and Simple Deluxe brands, include items such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning exhaust blowers, grow light systems and trimming machines.