April 25 (Reuters) - Rubrik's ( RBRK ) shares climbed

nearly 21% in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange on

Thursday, giving the Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed cybersecurity firm a

valuation of $6.77 billion.

The startup joins a list of companies that have seen strong

debuts recently as initial public offerings (IPOs) bounce back

on hopes of a soft landing for the economy, where inflation

falls without a recession or big job losses.

The rapid adoption of cloud applications for data storage

and transfer has left businesses vulnerable to malicious attacks

via the internet and boosted the appeal of cybersecurity firms.

Palo Alto, California-based Rubrik ( RBRK ) provides data security

solutions to more than 6,100 customers including appliance maker

Whirlpool, snacks and beverages giant PepsiCo ( PEP )

and investment bank Goldman Sachs ( GS ).

Initially named ScaleData, Rubrik ( RBRK ) competes with data

management and protection vendors including Cohesity, Commvault ( CVLT )

, Veeam, IBM ( IBM ) and Dell EMC.

The company's stock opened at $38.6, higher than the $32 IPO

price, and were last trading at $37. Rubrik ( RBRK ) raised $752 million

in the IPO.

The strong debut comes against the backdrop of weakness in

the broader equities market. The Russell 2000 Index,

which measures the performance of small-cap U.S. equities, has

dropped nearly 7% so far this month.

Rubrik ( RBRK ) was founded in late 2013, but only began offering

products and services in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2016. It

is led by co-founder and CEO Bipul Sinha, who is also a venture

partner at Silicon Valley's technology investment firm

Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) made an equity investment in Rubrik ( RBRK ) in

2021 in a financing round that valued the startup at $4 billion.

Venture capital firms Greylock Partners and Lightspeed have also

backed the company.

The IPO was underwritten by a syndicate of more than a dozen

banks including Goldman Sachs ( GS ), Barclays, Citigroup and Wells

Fargo Securities.