11 Most Anticipated IPOs of 2022: New and Upcoming Companies Going Public

It has been a tough two years for IPOs. Few of the big names going public in 2021 and 2022 haven't shown any growth, which perhaps is hardly surprising given the environment that they were listing in.

Examples include Airbnb, down 71% since its February 2021 listing; Bumble, down a massive 51% in the same period; Petco, down over 24% since January 2021, and RobinHood, down 32% since July 2021. In fact, of the most anticipated IPOs of 2021, only Nextdoor has fared well, currently trading at 6.7% above its March 2021 listing price.

What does that mean for new and upcoming IPOs in 2022? 

Companies still need access to the markets, and if the number of unicorns over the past five years is anything to go by, venture capitalists will still need to cash out. 2021 was a lesson for investment banks, however. As much as they will continue to try and tempt companies with higher IPO valuations, they’re bound to be somewhat reticent after the last two years.

DealRoom helps companies prepare for the process of going public and below, we look at a list of new and upcoming IPOs in 2022.

_{Why not check out: Top Upcoming IPOs}

1. Stripe

Estimated valuation: $100 billion.

In April 2021, Stripe became the most highly valued venture-backed private company in the world, coming in at a valuation of $95 billion in its Series H funding round. Stripe was founded by brothers, John and Tom Collison, who still head up the business. John recently stated that the company was ‘very happy’ being private.

However, he’s unlikely to be the only one making the decision, with several investors spread out over those rounds probably keen for cashing out at some stage. For every $100B in transaction value, Stripe now processes nearly $3B, adding its own transaction fee. Growth last year was 70%. It may not happen in 2022, but expect it to be by far the biggest IPO in the world if it does.

2. Instacart

Estimated valuation: $50 billion.

Instacart was one of the most anticipated IPOs of 2021 and ended up not happening as the owners said that it was more important to ‘focus on growth’ and ‘broadening its services.’ Again, there’s a good chance that they took at how other IPOs fare and thought better of it. That said, revenue growth at the company, which exploded during the pandemic and is set to rise by another 10% in 2021, suggests that there’s a lot more runway to go before an IPO is required.

Also, the company is responsible for a massive 75% of third party intermediary grocery sales in the US. Don’t be surprised to see Instacart acquire a supermarket chain as it seeks to branch out, maybe learning from some of Amazon’s mistakes with its Whole Foods acquisition some years back.

3. Mobileye

Expected IPO date: Q4 2022

ExpectedValue: $50 billion

Industry: Technology

Mobil eye is what the famed German management consultant Hermann Simon might have termed, ‘a hidden champion’ - a relatively unknown company that has cornered the global market for a particular product or service. In the case of Mobileye, an Israeli company, that product happens to be advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

The chances are that if you’ve ever driven anything above a sedan, you’ve used some of the software that Mobil eye develops or licences. By some estimates, the tools have been installed on over 100 million cars. The first two quarters of 2022 have already seen record quarterly revenues for the company, which posted $394 million and $460 million in Q1 and Q2 respectively.

With an expected open day value of $50 billion, Mobileye is a big be ton the future of autonomous driving (where its patented technology is central to what automotive companies are trying to achieve). However, they may have to wait: This upcoming IPO was already pencilled in for mid-2022, with the company now hoping markets pick up for the launch by year end.

4. Databricks

Estimated valuation: $40 billion.

Databricks’ most recent funding round valued it at $38B. Founded by the creators of Apache Spark, it is the first platform to allow users to perform traditional SQL analytics and BI, with data science and machine learning all on the same platform without involving SQL manager.

Its revenue has been projected at $421M in 2021, which makes the $40B valuation a steep one, but the company’s growth remains remarkably high, growing ARR by 75% in the past year - the metric that everybody valuing SAAS companies focuses on. At $40B, this could, amongst companies going public in 2022, be the third biggest IPO of the year, but may even end up being the biggest if the Stripe and Instacart listings are delayed once more.

5. Chime

Estimated valuation: $40 billion.

Bank executives everywhere must be worrying about the number of digital banks enjoying huge success. Chime - which grew its user base through fee-free mobile banking services - is actually owned by a traditional bank, the Bancorp Bank, itself a respectable, but otherwise unremarkable bank with revenues of less than $300M.

Its startup, Chime, is already earning around three times that - perhaps a classic Kodak moment for the Bancorp Bank, that it gets to take advantage of. Like other companies on this list, Chime has been a big beneficiary of transactions moving online during the Covid-19 pandemic and saw its revenues skyrocket over the past two years.

The upcoming IPO has been earmarked for March 2022. With a valuation of $40B, Chime would be more valuable than several US regional banks, each of which has several hundred branches.

6. Service Titan

Expected IPO date: Q3 2022

Expected Value: $18 billion

Industry: Technology/Services

The upcoming IPO of ServiceTitan is being billed as the year’s biggest vertical SaaS IPO - usually the IPO that makes technology investors sit up in their seats. ServiceTitan provides software for field service businesses (plumbing, landscaping, pest control, etc.), giving it broad scope for adding new users.

The company was founded by two friends who saw the demand for technology solutions that existed among tradespeople having developed some scheduling software for their fathers. The company they grew out of that, is now a behemoth with annual recurring revenues in excess of $250 million, customer base of more than 100,000 companies, making it one of the IPOs to look out for in 2022.

ServiceTitan is also an interesting case study of what can be achieved through good M&A. Its growth was only partly organic - it acquired a host of rivals in its space, including landscaping software provider Aspire, and pest-control platforms like ServicePro. With the extra cash generated by anIPO, their ambitions might become even bigger.

7. Discord

Estimated valuation: $15 billion.

Discord is usually compared with Slack, although at half the valuation, it’s got far fewer users, and a much smaller ecosystem to tap (Salesforce has been highly active in this space over the past two years, as we’ve previously outlined).

The other thing about Discord is that it’s far more B2C than B2B, perhaps leaving it open to a much wider audience (but also, a much more crowded field of competitors). It’s a favorite among the gaming community, for example.

The company grew from 56 million monthly users to 100 million in 2020, and then by a further 50 million over the course of 2021. But it will have to keep that kind of growth up to justify a $15B valuation amongst the number of new ipos in 2022, having current revenues of just $130M.

8. Blockchain

Expected IPO date: Q4 2022

Expected Value: $15 billion

Industry: Financial Services

The irony isn’t lost on many that Blockchain is filing for an upcoming IPO in late 2022 and the underwriters won’t be using cryptocurrency for the offering. When it comes to the crunch, even cryptocurrency enthusiasts are looking for the greenback.

Blockchain started as an information portal for Bitcoin enthusiasts, but soon added digital wallet and cryptocurrency exchange services to its arsenal. It was a decision that proved to be lucrative. Since then, it has taken a percentage on nearly $1.5 trillion in transactions and holds nearly 100million wallets on its books.

Blockchain is being coy about the date of its IPO and at this stage, it may even be in 2023. A series C capital raise for Blockchain in 2021 raised $300million and give it a $5.2 billion valuation, so an initial valuation in excess of $15 billion seems about right. The message from Blockchain seems to be: Cryptocurrency is the future, but for now, let’s cash out in dollars.

9. Zazzle

Expected IPO date: Q3 2022

Expected Value: $1-2 billion

Industry: Technology/Production

Zazzle is like a cross between Etsy, Amazon, and Alibaba. It markets itself as an online marketplace that enables people to create their own products, and - if they want - to sell them to others on the platform. Much like those companies it compares to, gives customers access to a range of sophisticated tools for design, manufacturing, and distribution.

If this doesn’t sound like an interesting investment proposition, there’s a sweetener: The business model they have developed creates customized products, which generally benefit from higher margins. Likewise, their 3D printing technology reduces labor and import duties, giving more flexibility on the cost side.

The company still hasn’t filed their S-1 with the SEC, so details about its financials are minimal. However, given that the company has raised less than $50 million since its inception back in 2005, it’s fair to say that it probably doesn’t have much debt on the balance sheet. Its upcoming IPO is planned for late 2022 and with nearly a million designers on board, there might even be some upsell for the brand down the line.

10. Steinway

Expected IPO date: Q3 2022

Expected Value: Approximately $1 billion

Industry: Music

Although not among companies going public in 2022 not the biggest IPOs, the Steinway new public listing has generated a lot of buzz because of the prestige behind the 170-year old piano brand.

Currently owned by hedge fund manager, John Paulson, the company was taken private in 2013, at a time when its books showed net sales of $354million and net income of $13.5 million. Since then, under Paulson’s management, the company has raised sales to $538 million and adjusted net income to $71 million. Debts have also been slashed over the past decade.

In some ways, an investment in Steinway - which has opted for the ticker STWY ahead of its old ticker LVB (standing for Ludwig von Beehoven) - isa best on Chinese discretionary spending, where most of its sales derive from. With China possibly looking into its first recession in three decades, listing now might be a riskier proposition than John Paulson intended.

11. Reddit

Expected IPO date: Q3 2022

Expected Value: Unknown

Industry: Media

Message boards (historically referred to as “bulletin boards”) were remarkably popular at the dawn of the internet. In 1994, it is estimated that there were at least 60,000 bulletin boards serving America’s pioneer surfers. Of the handful that remain, Reddit is by far the most popular (or notorious), and now it appears to be headed for a new IPO in 2022.

The message board of choice for millennials, Reddit lays claim to 50million daily users, and has become a form of collective stock market trading tool. It showed this to some effect when its users bought up the shares of Gamestop in March 2021, creating a short squeeze, and pushing the value of the company nearly 20-fold.

Sales at the company are moving fast, and some investors may see Reddit as a relatively safe bet given how it has already won the prize of being America’s bulletin board of choice. Annual sales are running at around $500million, however, so this should be another upcoming IPO valued at below $5 billion.

_{Why not check out: 15 Top IPOs from 2017: Where Are They Now?}

1. Plaid

Estimated Valuation: $13 billion

Plaid is one of those companies that many people use on a daily basis without even being aware of its presence. It creates the technology that enables fintech companies to traditional financial institutions. On this basis, it appears like it could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the move towards fintechs, digital banking, and embedded finance. Revenues at the company are

By some reports, its revenues grow by 60% to around $170 million at the end of 2021, but it also raised $425 million last year, so it may have no immediate need to raise funds through an IPO. With 12,000 financial institutions already connected to its platform, investors will eagerly await Plaid’s IPO, whenever it eventually comes to pass.

2. Impossible Foods

Estimated Valuation: $10 billion

Plant-based meats, we are often told, are the future. Impossible foods, with its increasingly ubiquitous products such as the Impossible Whopper (in Burger King) and the Impossible Slider (in White Castle). Its products can also be found on the shelves of most of the largest food retailers in the country, and in the sandwiches and rolls at Starbucks. The revolution will be plant-based, it seems.

From an investor perspective, this seems like a no brainer. A movement that is not only in fashion but may soon even become a necessity, as we look to reduce carbon emissions. The company is also clearly a star when it comes to marketing its output. A date still hasn’t been set for an IPO, but the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023 may still be possible.

3. TPG

Estimated Valuation: $10 billion

Perhaps in an effort to gain lofty share price values with all of that dry powder on their balance sheets, private equity companies have decided en masse to go public over the past year. Eleven private equity companies listed in 2021 with a combined opening day value of over $240 billion. In February 2022, TPG, the private equity behemoth founded by James Coulter and David Bonderman listed on Nasdaq.

The listing valued the private equity giant, whose assets at the time stood at just over $110 billion, at $10 billion. TPG holds large stakes in talent agency CAA, Vice Media, and Spotify. Like almost all stocks on Nasdaq, it trended downward almost instantly but having listed at $32 in January and to be still trading at $29 in October, it seems there’s good faith out there in TPG stock.

4. RobinHood

Estimated Valuation: $8-10 billion

The legend goes that the original Robin Hood, “robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.” That’s not quite the proposition of RobinHood, although it does put stock trading - traditionally out of reach for many - at the fingertips of the masses.

The inspiration for the company came to its founders during the Occupy Wall Street protests some years back when they thought that investing needed to be democratized.

The result is the world’s most popular stock trading application.

However, with many of the big firms in the banking industry now offering almost identical products to their own customers, and often with 0% commissions, it may be difficult to convince investors that this is a solid long-term investment.

5. Bumble

Estimated Valuation: US$6-8 billion

The world’s second favourite dating app has already hired Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to underwrite its IPO at the beginning of 2021.

The 6-year old company already has in excess of 100 million users, many of which subscribe for added services on its mobile application, giving it large recurring revenue.

Private equity group Blackstone took a majority stake in MagicLab in 2019, obviously with one eye on a listing in the short-term.

This IPO will undoubtedly be closely watched by Tinder, the biggest player in this market, who are also rumored to be eying an IPO in the coming years.

6. Better

Estimated Valuation: $7.7 billion

Companies like Better, which provide house buyers with fast mortgages through an online platform may be feeling the pinch around now. All of these companies were developed during a period when mortgage rates were hovering at close to zero, which may have underpinned their business model. With mortgage rates rising, the model they developed may be coming under strain.

An IPO for Better might confirm this hypothesis. The company announced at the end of November 2021 that it had agreed a deal to go public via a SPAC deal, but that still hasnt happened. The company’s owners, who themselves have attracted significant controversy over the past year or two, may be waiting to see how their business performs now that rates are on the rise.

7. Bausch & Lomb

Estimated Valuation: $6.5 billion

Bausch & Lomb’s parent company, Bausch, was founded nearly 170 years ago in Canada. Bausch itself has been listed for several decades, and its public listing of Bausch & Lomb, its eye health divison, was seen by many onlookers as being long overdue. Bausch & Lomb is one of the world’s largest suppliers of contact lenses, intraocular lenses, lens care products, and products associated with eye surgery.

Listed at $20 on its opening day, the stock is already trading at slightly over $15, which might be somewhat colored by the dramatic rise in interest rates since then. A bigger factor might be the company’s relatively low net income, with the company showing a $20 million return on revenues of $889 million in the first quarter.

8. Petco

Estimated Valuation: US$6 billion

The pet supplies industry is booming. As couples postpone the decision to become parents for longer and longer, the tendency over the past number of years has been for domestic pets to fill the void once filled by children.

And best of all for investors, it’s a highly defensive industry: People don’t stop feeding their pets, even in an economic downturn. That’s why the listing of Petco in 2021 will be so keenly watched.

With its network of over 1,500 retail locations, the company is well positioned to capitalize on the thriving domestic pet economy.

One note of caution, however - this isn’t their first rodeo: Petco has already listed in 1994, 2000 and 2002. Fourth time’s a charm.

9. Nextdoor

Estimated Valuation: US$4-5 billion

An IPO for Nextdoor has a vague feeling of one of those IPOs at the beginning of the 2000s for technology firms with few little cash flow and lots of big promises.

However, move forward twenty years and social media is a viable business model. Nextdoor is a social media platform aimed at neighborhoods, allowing users to make connections (the second company on this list to do so), making and requesting recommendations, buy and sell items and advertise goods and services for sale.

The site is already active in over 250,000 neighborhoods across 11 different countries, and has the potential to move into several directions, including last-mile delivery, home sales and e-commerce.

10. Excelerate Energy

Estimated Valuation: $2.5 billion

At a time when energy security has arguably become more important than ever, 2022 has seen some interesting energy-related IPOs. One such example is Excelerate Energy, a company providing liquified natural gas (LNG) regasification services worldwide. There is unlikely to have been a more opportune time in the last decade for the company to go to IPO in April 2022, where it raised $360 million, valuing the company at $2.5 billion.

Having said that, six months on from its listing, the company is trading at below its initial offering price, suggesting not all investors are convinced by its proposition. This can be partly explained by its negative net income. With world energy becoming increasingly polarized, don’t expect Excelerate Energy’s income to stay in the red for long.

Conclusion

All the signs are that 2021 will be a big one for IPOs. But it’s not just mega deals. Hundreds of firms are also gearing up to list on indices across the world, many of them DealRoom clients.

The IPO process is a maze of documents and filings which requires good IPO virtual data room services. ‍

Talk to us if you’re considering an IPO in the near future about how DealRoom can help you and your company to simplify the process and ensure that your firm achieves as high a valuation upon listing as possible.