It looks like 2022 is shaping up to be another strong year for IPOs.
2021 was a good year for IPOs. IPOs in the United States raised US$156 billion, recording an 81 percent increase over the prior year. With such an outburst, tech stocks raised US$69 billion alone significantly. Shares of Bumble, a dating app created for women’s interests, closed up 63.5 percent in their IPO in January 2021.
Bumble’s IPO also made history by making founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd a billionaire and the youngest woman ever to take a company public. Meanwhile, language learning app Duolingo Inc made its market debut in July 2021 and raised US$521 million in the IPO, priced above the marketed range.
As we move into the second half of 2022, a few upcoming IPOs have got us particularly excited. Here are the top five IPOs to keep an eye on this year
1. Reddit
Founded 17 years ago, Reddit is a social news platform, web content rating and discussion website. Members of the community post content, such as links, text posts, images and videos, which the other members can vote up or down. Posts are then organized by subject into boards called “subreddits” which cover different topics, such as news, entertainment, sports, cooking, politics, etc. As of May 2022, Reddit is the 20th most visited website in the world and the 11th most visited in the United States.
In August 2021, a US$700 million funding round led by Fidelity Investments raised Reddit’s valuation to over US$10 billion. CEO Steve Huffman said the company has not decided on the timing for when to go public or the number of shares to offer, but they had filed a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding their prospective IPO in December 2021. Under the collaboration on building the company’s IPO between Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the company may be going public as soon as July 2022 at a value of US$15 billion.
2. Discord
Founded in 2015, the instant messaging platform Discord has gained worldwide popularity. As of 2021, it has over 350 million registered users and over 150 million monthly active users. While Discord has typical communication features, such as voice and video calls and chat rooms, it is quite different from other messaging platforms. It is mainly catered for gamers’ use by allowing them to find each other to coordinate tactics and talk while playing.
As of August 2021, Discord reported an estimated valuation of US$15 billion and received US$130 million in revenue in 2020, triple from the previous year. The inflated valuation can be attributed to the increased usage of users during the COVID-19 pandemic and the inflow of users that have left Facebook and other social media platforms due to privacy concerns. Although the company has not officially endorsed a plan to participate in an IPO, investors expect Discord’s estimated time of arrival sometime in 2022.
3. Impossible Foods
California-based Impossible Foods develops plant-based substitutes for meat products, an alternative to the health and environment-damaging animal meat industry. In the ten years since its establishment, it has launched its signature product, the Impossible Burger, in multiple restaurants worldwide; the Impossible Whopper was sold in partnership with fast-food chain Burger King.
Impossible Foods has raised US$1.3 billion from over 12 rounds of funding. Impossible Foods CEO Pat Brown has also said that the company has intentions to go public soon, and an IPO has become “inevitable.” The firm is anticipated to go public sometime in 2022.
4. Airtable
Created in 2012 in San Francisco, Airtable is an easy-to-use online platform for creating and sharing relational databases. Users utilize a variety of templates available on Airtable to create flexible checklists, organize ideas, create inventories and catalogs, and manage customers or contacts, all in one place. The low-code feature of the platform allows professionals who are not fluent in coding languages to remake the consumer and client digital experience.
In December 2021, Airtable hit US$11 billion in valuation after a US$735 million Series F funding. According to an Airtable spokesperson, “no official timetable has been set” for the company going public. But experts are expecting Airtable to go public sometime in 2022.
5. Flipkart
Founded in 2007, Flipkart is an e-commerce company that sells consumer electronics, fashion, and other goods online. In August 2018, International e-commerce giant Walmart bought a 77 percent controlling stake in Flipkart for US$16 billion, putting its estimated valuation to US$20 billion.
Flipkart has raised the valuation of its IPO internally by around US$60-70 billion in April 2022 from US$37 million in July 2021. According to media reports, Flipkart is now planning a U.S. listing in early 2023 instead of late 2022. This delay is due to the company’s internal plan to boost valuations further by focusing on their two new businesses—online healthcare services and travel bookings.
There you have it! Our top picks for the best IPOs to keep an eye out for in the second half of 2022. From new and innovative startups to established tech giants, there’s sure to be something for everyone. So start doing your research now and get ready to make some profits!
Also Read:
- Asian Startups Set to Join the IPO Race in 2022
- Zomato Co-founder Deepinder Goyal on the Success of the IPO and The Path Ahead
- It’s not about if, but where they’re going public: Drew Bernstein on Chinese IPOs
Header image courtesy of Unsplash
