
Tech's love affair with Wall Street is going to continue into 2021.
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Tech's love affair with Wall Street is going to continue into 2021.
The second half of 2020 has been an IPO bonanza. So far, it looks like 2021 will be more of the same.
Affirm and Roblox, which delayed their listings in 2020, are almost certain to go public, and they'll be joined by some of the biggest companies in tech, such as crypto exchange Coinbase.
Here are the IPOs you need to know about for 2021.
The gaming platform pushed off its December 2020 IPO to 2021 after deciding to reassess its pricing strategies in the wake of huge pops from the Airbnb and DoorDash IPOs. Sources told Reuters that Roblox viewed the Airbnb and DoorDash IPOs as under-priced and hoped to get a higher IPO price in the new year.
The secondhand sales platform snuck in just before the holidays, making its S-1 public at the end of December with plans to list in the new year.
Coinbase has had a tumultuous year, to say the least. While many in tech will best remember it for the controversy around its employees' politics, it's also been a major beneficiary of Bitcoin's soaring price. In December, the company announced it had confidentially filed its S-1.
Dating app company Bumble could be looking to make its match with the public markets around Valentine's Day. The company has reportedly confidentially filed for an IPO with plans to list in February, and it could value it at $6 billion to $8 billion, according to Bloomberg.
UiPath could be looking to double its valuation to over $20 billion in a 2021 IPO. The software startup, which specializes in robotic process automation, told Bloomberg in December that it had confidentially filed for an IPO. It has also reportedly picked banks in anticipation of a public offering in the first half of 2021.
Speaking of which, the other secondhand clothing retailer looking to go public announced in October that it had confidentially filed for an IPO.
The food delivery company saw a boost thanks to the pandemic, and it's only accelerated its IPO plans from there. CNBC reported that the company is eyeing a $30 billion IPO in early 2021 now that the ballot proposition for AB 5 was passed in California.
Jio Platforms may have garnered more attention in 2020, but Flipkart is still India's biggest online retailer, estimated to have had a 66% market share during the recent festive period. In 2021, investors might finally be able to get in on the action: The company has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to work on the IPO, which could raise $10 billion, valuing the company around $40 billion. For current owner Walmart, the IPO would come a year ahead of schedule: When it acquired Flipkart in 2018, it said it would list it within four years.
You might not have guessed in March that a stock trading app would be one of the biggest winners from a pandemic, yet here we are. With sports canceled and an awful lot of people stuck at home, "boredom trading" surged this year. Robinhood, which enabled many of those people to invest in the booming stock market, grew along with them: Its valuation went from $8.6 billion in July to $11.7 billion in September. The company has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to lead its IPO, which could value the company at over $20 billion.
The fintech might not get as much attention as some of its peers, but it's quietly built a huge business. It's reportedly working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan on an IPO, with plans to list at a $10 billion valuation.
Investors loved Snowflake's IPO, so Databricks and its enterprise AI platform could be well-positioned to go public in 2021. The company is reportedly in talks with bankers, but hasn't hired underwriters yet despite plans to go public at a "significantly higher" valuation than its current $6.2 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Ant was set to have the biggest IPO in history this year, with plans to raise around $35 billion. But those grand plans came to a screeching halt when Chinese authorities — reportedly directed by Xi Jinping — forced the company to pull its listing. The company is now conducting a "comprehensive self-review," and it's unclear when it will be ready to re-list: Bloomberg reports it could be as late as 2022.
Biz Carson ( @bizcarson) is a San Francisco-based reporter at Protocol, covering Silicon Valley with a focus on startups and venture capital. Previously, she reported for Forbes and was co-editor of Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Before that, she worked for Business Insider, Gigaom, and Wired and started her career as a newspaper designer for Gannett.
Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a growth manager at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.
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