A select group of technology start-ups planning to publicly list their shares in the coming month has generated cautious optimism on Wall Street for a potential opening for initial public offerings (IPOs), despite increased market fluctuations following aggressive tariff policies by US President Donald Trump.
Among the companies, CoreWeave, which operates AI data centers, and Klarna, a Swedish fintech company, have both initiated filings for New York IPOs this month. This move has sparked hopes of concluding a three-year downturn in significant tech listings caused by high-interest rates.
CoreWeave, based in New Jersey, aims to raise $4 billion, achieving a valuation exceeding $35 billion, potentially marking the largest stock market debut for a tech company this year. Meanwhile, Klarna is seeking to raise over $1 billion, valuing the company at approximately $15 billion.
A senior investment banker with close involvement in the IPOs of both companies indicated expectations for these IPOs, along with three others, potentially launching as early as next month. This group could also include eToro, a retail trading platform, which announced in February its filing for a New York listing with a possible valuation exceeding $5 billion.
Concurrent developments, such as Google’s proposed $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity start-up Wiz, announced recently, have also enhanced expectations for a more favorable market climate for tech-related deals.
However, investors in start-ups preparing to list their shares have shown greater caution following recent market disturbances amid concerns about economic impacts from Trump’s tariff announcements. They highlight specific capital needs for companies like CoreWeave, which faces a large debt load, and Klarna, experiencing competitive pressures that have lowered its valuation.
Fintech platform Chime and software provider Genesys, both of which confidentially filed to list their shares late last year, have informed investors of likely IPOs later this year, according to sources knowledgeable about the situation. Chime declined to comment, and Genesys did not respond to a request for comment.
These market volatilities have also affected European markets. German pharmaceutical company Stada has postponed its planned IPO until September, citing recent stock market instability, according to two well-informed sources. Stada stated it was evaluating all options, including the possibility of an IPO, but emphasized that this depended on the prevailing financial market conditions.
Banking firms like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan have presented to investors that CoreWeave might be the inaugural and largest of a few tech IPOs in April, potentially paving the way for smaller companies to offer their shares to the public.
Despite these developments, CoreWeave has yet to start a roadshow to garner interest in its shares or set a date for its IPO, according to those close to the proceedings. CoreWeave did not respond to requests for comments regarding its IPO preparations.
Peter Hébert, co-founder and managing partner at the $5 billion venture firm Lux Capital, noted that public market sentiment has shifted significantly over the past four to six weeks, prompting most entities to retreat to more stable conditions. He added that while some entities like CoreWeave are actively pursuing transactions, others that have filed confidentially are in a waiting stance given the less enticing market environment.
Funds holding stakes in private tech companies are actively seeking routes to exit their investments to provide liquidity back to their investors. While an IPO boom occurred in 2021, the subsequent three years have seen sluggish deal activity. Investors had been anticipating a rise in public listings this year following the US election and as interest rates began to decrease. However, the expected recovery has been delayed, resulting in a backlog of companies remaining private for unprecedented durations.
An adviser working with several pre-IPO tech companies expressed that if IPO activity does not materialize in April, it is likely that the landscape for IPOs in 2025 might be lackluster, describing the existing sentiment as “motivated wishful thinking” for imminent listings.
Presently, the aggregate valuation of US start-ups surpasses $4 trillion, more than double the $1.7 trillion recorded in 2020, according to PitchBook data. High-value late-stage start-ups such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, fintech group Stripe, and AI data platform Databricks had considered IPOs as early as 2021 but have since put their plans on hold, offering no updated timelines for their public listings.
Mark Schwartz, EY’s IPO and Spac advisory leader, noted that decisions regarding public filings and the timing of IPO roadshows are receiving more stringent scrutiny than earlier in the year, with the recent market volatility raising concerns about the readiness of the near-term environment for IPOs in general and tech IPOs in particular.
This reporting included contributions by Ivan Levingston in London and Florian Müller in Frankfurt.
