Initial Public Offerings (IPO) may have had a rough year in 2019, but that is not stopping experts from calling for another strong IPO market in 2020, especially for the first part of the year. 2019's market fizzled notably from the dramatic fall of WeWork, thus sullying investor confidence towards "unicorns," or companies that were valued at over $1 billion before going public. The uneven performance from unicorn IPOs lead to some delaying their public offering for a later date when investors are more welcoming.
What is being dubbed the "WeWork effect" by Phil Haslett, chief revenue officer at EquityZen, Haslett predicts that investors in 2020 will focus more "on profitability, less on outright revenue growth, and more [have] more focus on corporate governance." Investors are also expected to draw a greater distinction between real tech companies and ones that are only enabled by tech like Uber
Here are some predicted 2020 IPOs:
Airbnb: Much anticipated for 2019, Airbnb had delayed its IPO mainly due to the fall of WeWork. The company itself has had some past scandals and has used 2019 to correct many of its failures. The online home-sharing marketplace is still a large competitor to hotel companies and may very well enter public markets in 2020. The company has been valued recently at upwards of $35 billion.
Ant Financial: The financial technology affiliate company of Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba
Instacart: The popular grocery deliver company is set to debut in 2020 due to its raising of over $1.2 billion in private equity markets and valuation being close to $8 billion. Though the companies revenue and profitability are not publicly disclosed, that company seem to be growing and has had various partnerships with companies like Kroger
Stripe: The fintech payment company has a strong chance of entering public trading markets in 2020. Stripe makes software that allows business to accept payments over the internet and is notably used to process payments from companies like Airbnb, Lyft
SoFi: The financial services provider that is focused on younger generations has a private valuation above $4 billion, making it a big contender for public trading. Due to the rocky IPO climate for "unicorns," the company is focused on the quality of its business before proposing a public offering.
Postmates: The on-demand delivery services company that rivals GrubHub