IPOs surged in 2021 as the global IPO market saw volumes rise by 64% and proceeds 67% year-over-year. By mid-December, this amounted to 2,388 deals valued at $453.3bn. However, as bearish sentiment rages through the markets, IPO activity in 2022 will likely be less frenzied.
Nevertheless, we’ve compiled a few of the more speculative IPOs to look out for in the coming year.
SpaceX
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), founder and TIME ‘person of the year’ Elon Musk’s other notable business venture is SpaceX. The 20-year-old NASA rival recently completed its 100th rocket landing and has many more ambitious plans ahead. Along with transporting humans to Mars, the company is heavily invested in advancing satellite broadband and lunar landers. SpaceX has legions of dedicated fans globally, and its progress is closely followed on social media. Considering Tesla’s sensational share price success, a SpaceX IPO would undoubtedly be a highlight of the year.
Social news aggregator Reddit has become synonymous with retail day trading since the GameStop meme stock saga of early 2021. Therefore, a Reddit IPO is sure to be closely followed by the r/wallstreetbets Reddit army and retail investors worldwide. In December, the 16-year-old business made a confidential filing to the SEC indicating a potential Reddit IPO in early 2022.
Mobileye self-driving cars
Semiconductor company Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INT) plans to take its Mobileye self-driving car business public via IPO by the summer. The Israeli subsidiary saw revenue reach $1bn in 2020.
The Fresh Market
Gourmet supermarket The Fresh Market is expected to go public in 2022 after filing confidentially in March 2021. However, it has considerable debt and is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global who may be looking for a quick way to realize a lucrative payday. Gourmet food is a growing but highly competitive space, and thriving as a public company may prove challenging.
Discord
Social messaging platform Discord has rapidly raised its popularity since COVID struck. It’s now used by individuals, groups, businesses and all manner of hobbyists to discuss their interests. This is sure to be a closely watched IPO when it happens.
Databricks
We speculated on a Databricks IPO back in June, but it hasn’t transpired. Now speculators believe it will happen in 2022. The enterprise software provider counts CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), and Condé Nast among its well-known clients.
Other potential IPOs to keep an eye out for in 2022 include:
Ascensus (American financial services company)
Airtable (cloud collaboration service)
Chime (American fintech company)
iFit Health and Fitness (home gym membership and equipment)
Impossible Foods (plant-based meat)
Instacart (grocery delivery and pick-up service)
Juvenescence (a longevity biotech and life sciences company)
Klarna (BNPL)
Leap Gaming (virtual gaming company)
Melon Fashion Group (Russian fashion brands)
Ola (ride-hailing firm)
Panera (Bread bakery)
Stripe (Fintech payments)
ThoughtSpot (Business intelligence company)
The Omicron variant is dominating headlines just now and suppressing the hope of buoyant market conditions in 2022. Coupled with geopolitical tensions, inflation fears, and pandemic restrictions, there’s reason to believe IPO activity in 2022 is likely to be less frantic than in the past year.
However, the rise of the retail investor and strong demand for new businesses to come to market suggests some notable IPOs will undoubtedly make headlines in the months ahead.