Explore ways to buy Niantic stock as the IPO approaches. Get access to select IPOs with an online broker such as TradeStation that offers free IPO investing to eligible customers.
Or browse pre-IPO platforms for early equity opportunities such as the ARK Venture Fund available at Titan ($500 minimum).
Niantic Stock and IPO Recent News
03/30/2023: Niantic ‘adjusts’ prices on Pokémon Go Remote Raid Passes
10/05/2022: Lucky Charms & Niantic Launch New AR Mobile Game
06/28/2022: Niantic Cancels Four Projects, Cuts 8% of Staff
12/14/2021: The Metaverse is Already Here — and it’s Full of Pokémon
11/22/2022: Niantic Receives $300 Million Investment From Coatue
06/14/2021: Pokémon Go creator Niantic is making a Transformers game
01/16/2019: ‘Pokémon Go’ Creator Captures $245 Million in Funding, Mulls IPO
What is Niantic?
Niantic Labs is a leading augmented reality video game developer known best for creating the Pokémon Go phone app. The company began as a startup inside Google in 2010 but spun off in 2015 as a separate private entity.
The company has created a handful of other games since its founding, including Ingress Prime, Pikman Bloom, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Catan: World Explorers.
However, it has shuttled Harry Potter, Catan, Transformers: Heavy Metal, and other early-stage games due to layoffs or when they do not generate enough initial interest.
New games currently under development include Peridot (virtual pets) and a National Basketball Association (NBA) licensed game called NBA: All World.
Niantic now seems more focused on promoting its development platform, Lightship, an augmented reality developer kit. It enables app developers to “build the real-world metaverse”.
The company is headquartered in San Francisco and led by CEO John Hanke. Hanke founded the geospatial data visualization company, Keyhole in 2001. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole, which became Google Earth.
Here’s a trailer for the game Pikmin Bloom which shows how Niantic overlays the virtual world onto the real world:
Is Niantic Publicly Traded?
No. Niantic is a private company. There is no Pokémon Go stock.
Who Owns Niantic?
Niantic is a venture-backed private company. Its investors include the founders, employees, media companies, and venture capital firms.
Prominent media company investors include The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.
Venture capital firms participating in funding rounds include Google Ventures, Coatue, IVP, aXiomatic Gaming, Battery Ventures, Causeway Media Partners, CRV, and Samsung Ventures.
When is the Niantic IPO Date?
The Niantic IPO date is currently unknown.
Niantic has not yet filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The broader IPO market has slowed dramatically after 2021, making it more difficult for startups to enter the public markets.
Public and private valuations have tumbled.
Niantic reduced staff by 8% and canceled projects in early Summer 2022 to prepare for future economic turbulence.
In a 2019 interview with Fortune, CEO John Hanke said the company was positioning itself for an eventual IPO. Niantic missed the favorable IPO window of 2020-2021.
The $300 Series D funding round completed in November 2021 with Coatue should give the company sufficient capital to develop its development platform and new games. But so far, the company has been a one-hit wonder with Pokémon Go.
The author expects the IPO will not commence until market conditions improve, Niantic creates its next big gaming hit, and the development platform gains traction.
We won’t get a better sense of when the Niantic IPO will be until we learn of the hiring of an underwriter, an S-1 filing (public or confidential), or an IPO date range that reaches the press.
What is the Niantic Stock Symbol? Niantic Ticker?
Niantic is still a private company, so there is no Niantic stock symbol yet.
Here are a few Niantic ticker suggestions that appear to be available in the U.S.:
- NIAN
- NTC
What is the Niantic Stock Price?
There is no Niantic stock price yet. The company is private.
Can You Buy Niantic on Pre-IPO Marketplaces?
The author has not seen evidence of Niantic stock availability on prominent pre-IPO investing platforms based in the U.S.
However, shares may become available if early investors or employees want to cash out before the IPO. This may become more likely if the company raises another round of private equity capital.
The SEC requires pre-IPO investors to be accredited, meaning a net worth above $1 million (not including primary residence) or an income above $200,000 (or $300,000 with a spouse).
Check out our list of top pre-IPO investing platforms for current share availability.
How to Invest in Niantic Stock
Since Niantic is not a public company, it is challenging to become an equity owner today.
However, you can take action to improve your chances of early equity ownership or acquire shares in the IPO.
You can also look to gain exposure to Niantic stock indirectly through companies with an existing stake, such as Nintendo (NTDOY).
Otherwise, you’ll need to be patient for shares to begin trading after the IPO.
1. Buy Niantic on Pre-IPO investing platforms
The author has not yet seen evidence of Niantic being available on pre-IPO platforms. Though one platform has mentioned an offering may be forthcoming.
However, investors can monitor pre-IPO investing platforms for future availability.
If shares become available, expect to pay at least a $10,000 investment minimum. It’s free to sign up for access and alerts.
Pre-IPO investing platforms empower users to indicate interest in companies they wish to invest in.
If enough investors indicate interest in a particular company, the pre-IPO platforms may actively reach out to equity holders to try to acquire shares for accredited investors.
As companies mature, gain more shareholders, and delay their IPO due to macro conditions, more equity holders may seek liquidation before the IPO.
2. Buy during the Niantic stock IPO through a participating broker
Savvy IPO investors may find opportunities to invest during the IPO. That means acquiring shares at the IPO price the night before the company begins trading.
Once reserved for Wall Street’s wealthiest customers, IPO access has become more attainable to retail investors in the past five years.
The following online brokers give customers free access to IPOs, even with low account balances.
Brokers often negotiate exclusive IPO share allocations to retail investors. Your access to specific high-demand IPOs may be limited by how many brokerage accounts you have and what broker gets exclusive access.
TradeStation has a longer track record of accessing more than 200 IPOs and secondary offerings via its partnership with ClickIPO.
Robinhood and SoFi have the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs (e.g., Sweetgreen, Rivian).
Check out this list of best brokers for IPO investing to learn more about IPO access for retail investors.
3. Buy Niantic stock after the Niantic IPO
Though waiting for the IPO requires patience, there are advantages to waiting for the stock to become publicly traded before owning.
First of all, the IPO allows investors to review financials. Pre-IPO investing has limited financials available.
Second, IPO stock prices typically rise with high-demand companies. You can benefit if you’re in early and sell when the price overheats.
Many IPOs start with an immediate price increase (“the pop”). Then the stock falls once quarterly earnings reports become available.
In 2021, both Rivian and Robinhood became high-flying IPO stocks. But six months after the IPO, both stocks were more than 80% below their price peak.
The stock price declines after the IPOs could become excellent entry points if you were not allocated IPO shares.
Avoid buying overvalued shares immediately after the IPO. Shares often fall after the IPO due to lockup expirations and quarterly earnings disappointments.
However, the most disruptive companies will be higher in a decade. Patience pays.
Where can I find the Niantic IPO S-1 Filing?
Niantic has not yet submitted an S-1 filing to the SEC. When the company does, we’ll share it here.
In the meantime, you can check out the most recent S-1 filings in our S-1 filings feed.
Conclusion
Investors get excited when they identify companies riding extraordinary macroeconomic trends (gaming, augmented reality).
However, buying the stock early on can often prove difficult for retail investors.
Though pre-IPO investing platforms have opened more opportunities, private equity investing is still primarily reserved for the ultra-wealthy, requiring millions to invest in seed and early funding rounds for disruptive companies.
So if you pursue IPO shares and early equity, maintain reasonable expectations. However, if you identify several favorite IPO companies, you may eventually be able to invest in some of your target companies.
If Niantic stock is on your radar, good luck. Invest in pre-IPO and IPO companies with caution.
* Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author is long HOOD, SG, RIVN, NTDOY.
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