What are the most anticipated upcoming IPOs for 2021? What private companies are investors most excited to own?
2020 ended with a bang as Doordash and Airbnb each doubled on their trading debuts.
Following the coattails of 2020, 2021 could see several highly anticipated IPOs come to market — from grocery delivery to dating, video gaming, mobile finance, and electric vehicles.
As always, the highest demand IPOs will be challenging to attain shares before the stocks begin trading.
If you can’t get pre-IPO shares, you may still position yourself to profit by acquiring shares for the long-term after the IPO.
For the most disruptive companies, the most significant gains won’t come on the IPO date but over the following decade.
But if you can get IPO shares at a lower cost basis before trading starts, all the better.
Check out our list of best brokers for IPO investing to determine if you can increase your chances of receiving an allocation.
With that, here’s a list of the most exciting and highly-anticipated upcoming IPOs for 2021 and beyond.
Some of these may follow a traditional IPO route, while others may look to utilize a SPAC (special purposes acquisition company) to go public. Still, others may remain private throughout 2021.
In any case, investors hope to see most of these companies IPO in 2021 or 2022 as market conditions permit.
This list will be updated throughout the year as IPOs complete and additional deals hit the radar.
Table of Contents
1. Robinhood IPO
Robinhood is a Silicon Valley startup that revolutionized online investing by offering a commission-free trading platform. Popular with younger investors, you can place unlimited stock, bond, or crypto-currency trades on the Robinhood app and pay no fees.
The disruptive business model attracted a few copycat brokers, namely M1 Finance and Webull, then caused Charles Schwab to eliminate stock trading fees. Schwab’s move cascaded to the entire industry.
Now that most online brokers are commission-free, Robinhood will likely offer other products to its broad customer base en route to becoming a profitable company.
On January 7th, 2021, Bloomberg reported that Robinhood is weighing selling shares to its clients in the IPO, likely through a directed share program.
Reporting by Bloomberg on February 26th, 2021 says Robinhood may file confidentially for its IPO in March. Goldman Sachs is the Robinhood IPO lead underwriter.
Become a Robinhood customer and you may be able to invest in the IPO!
Read more about the Robinhood IPO and the potential directed share program that would empower customers to invest in the IPO.
2. Coinbase IPO
Coinbase is a digital currency exchange platform, the largest and most popular in the world.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Tether, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and Litcoin have passed the mania phase and are finding their places in the world.
Cryptocurrencies provide users a way to transact online and in the real world with non-governmental mediums of exchange, making it popular for illicit international commerce and privacy advocates.
The company was founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam and is based in San Francisco.
On December 17th, 2020, Coinbase announced it has submitted a confidential S-1 filing to the SEC. The filing kicks off the IPO process, possibly leading to a public offering in 2021.
Coinbase release the S-1 to the public on February 25th, 2021, confirming a direct listing. Read the Coinbase Global S-1 filing on the SEC website.
The company will trade on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol COIN.
Learn more about cryptocurrency and Bitcoin investing at Coinbase.
3. Instacart IPO
Instacart is a grocery pickup and delivery service headquartered in San Francisco.
The company partners with more than 25,000 grocery stores and “big box” chains to hand-pick store items and deliver them to customers.
Customers shop online using the Instacart Marketplace via desktop or handheld device.
Then Instacart hires personal shoppers who enter the stores, select and pack items, and deliver to the customers. Customers pay a delivery fee ($3.99) plus a 5% service fee. Tipping is also encouraged.
Reuters reported on November 12th that the company has chosen Goldman Sachs to lead the IPO at a $30 billion valuation.
On March 2nd, 2021, the Instacart announced a $265 million round of funding valuing the company at $39 billion.
Instacart is currently hiring new shoppers to meet the recent spike in demand.
Read more about the Instacart IPO.
4. Roblox IPO
Roblox is an online video gaming platform that enables players to choose from millions of user-programmed games. The platform has more than 150 million monthly active users, popular with children.
Popular Roblox games include Adopt Me!, Scuba Diving at Quill Lake, Work at a Pizza Place, Welcome to Bloxburg, MeepCity, and Work at a Pizza Place.
Roblox filed to go public in November 2020 with plans to complete the offering before the end of the year.
However, due to the favorable IPO environment as demonstrated by the success of the DoorDash and Airbnb IPOs, the company decided to delay the offering until 2021 to work with advisors to modify the IPO terms — presumably to increase the offering amount.
On January 7th, 2021, the company announced it would go pubic with a direct listing after raising $520 million in series H funding, valuing the company at $29.5 billion, according to a statement.
However, on January 29th, Roblox delayed the Roblox IPO due to SEC scrutiny, as reported by Reuters.
5. Stripe IPO
Stripe is a financial technology company that develops payment processing platforms, including APIs (application programming interfaces) software as a service (SaaS) packages that enable digital payments.
Its APIs allow web and mobile app developers to integrate payments (both receiving and sending) into everyday business operations.
The company was founded in 2010 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison. The same year it entered the Y Combinator startup accelerator program.
Stripe has 1 million + customers, ranging from small startups to the largest and most innovative corporations worldwide. Customers include Amazon, Shopify, Pelaton, Lyft, Zoom, Slack, Uber, Doordash, and OpenTable.
The Stripe mission statement:
Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet. Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. Businesses of every size—from new startups to public companies—use our software to accept payments and manage their businesses online.
Company headquarters are in San Francisco.
Bloomberg reported in November 2020 that Stripe is in talks for more private funding at a $70 billion valuation.
Read more about the Stripe IPO.
6. Nextdoor IPO
Nextdoor is a “hyperlocal” social networking platforms where neighbors connect online. It’s become a safer venue than Craig’s List, as members register with their real names and address.
Communication in the app is by neighborhood, and the user controls the radius distance of communication.
The service helps to find professional services and contractors or track down missing pets. Members in my neighborhood often talk about annoyances such as local crime, airplane noise, and disrespectful neighbors.
Nextdoor is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2008.
Read more about the Nextdoor IPO.
7. Chime IPO
Chime is an electronic app-based bank that has redesigned the way millennials manage their money. As of 2020, the company has more than 8 million customers.
Customers conduct banking on the app or desktop platforms, and each receives a debit card for spending. Chime makes money on interchange fees each time a customer swipes their debit card.
In September 2020, CNBC reported that the company is now valued at $14.5 billion after its latest fundraising effort, making it one of the most valuable companies in fintech. It will become “IPO ready” in 2021, according to Founder and CEO Chris Britt.
Along with Robinhood and Stripe, Chime is one of several fintech apps and upcoming IPOs riding the wave of mobile technology efficiencies.
Read more about the Chime IPO.
8. Plaid IPO
Plaid is a financial technology (fintech) company that enables seamless connections between customers, financial institutions, fintech apps, and developers.
Plaid builds application programming interface (APIs) for the financial industry, including banking, lending, and investing services.
Beyond APIs, Plaid is becoming an analytics company, providing its customers with user insights and data.
The company has become a must-use platform for fintech, empowering developers at startups and legacy financial institutions to deliver a beautiful user experience.
In January 2021, Visa abandoned its plans to acquire Plaid due to antitrust concerns, making the startup one of the hottest fintech unicorns in the U.S.
The question now is whether Plaid will pursue a traditional or direct listing IPO, SPAC acquisition, or if another company try to complete what Visa could not.
Read more about the Plaid IPO.
9. Impossible Foods IPO
Impossible Foods produces plant-based food that looks, feels, and tastes like meat.
They’re on a mission to save the Earth by creating products that replicate the experience we have eating meat but using plants and technology to make it happen.
The company’s signature product, the Impossible Burger, was launched in 2016 and is widely now sold in grocery stores and restaurants.
The Impossible Foods IPO will be closely watched after the massive success of its primary competitor, Beyond Meat, whose stock increased more than 100% within a few days of its IPO.
However, investors will need to be patient.
At this point, it’s not something that we need, and we can take our time. — Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown said at TechCrunch’s October 2019 Disrupt conference.
Impossible Foods is based in Redwood City, CA.
Read more about the Impossible Foods IPO.
10. Rivian IPO
Rivian is an electric vehicle manufacturer focused on up-heaving the market for consumer pickup trucks, SUVs, and delivery vans.
The company rivals Tesla, Lucid Motors, and Nikola in the expanding electric vehicle market, an industry set for explosive growth in the next decade.
It was founded by R.J. Scaringe, who earned a Ph.D. from MIT in mechanical engineering and was a member of the automotive laboratory.
Rivian will start delivering its electric trucks to consumers in June 2021.
Scaringe indicated in an interview with Bloomberg Technology on Youtube on November 23rd that the company is not focused on becoming a public company.
Bloomberg reported on January 5th, 2021, that Rivian is close to securing a new funding round that would value the company at $25 billion.
In February, Bloomberg reported that Rivian intends to IPO in 2021, as early as September. The company would aim for a valuation of more than $50 billion.
Rivian is based in Plymouth, MI., and has a manufacturing plant in Normal, Il., which it acquired from Mitsubishi Motors in January 2017. It’s now the most anticipated of all upcoming IPOs in the EV space.
Read more about the Rivian IPO.
11. Lucid Motors IPO
Electric vehicles are all the rage, thanks to the meteoric rise of Tesla’s stock in 2020. Another potential EV IPO is Lucid Motors.
Lucid Motors is an EV manufacturer in the process of entering the marketplace for environmentally friendly luxury sedans, known for its technology that increases battery range.
The company was founded by Bernard Tse and Sam Weng and was initially named Atieva to focus on batteries and powertrains. In 2016, they rebranded to Lucid Motors and began the development of an electric luxury vehicle.
Peter Rawlinson is now the CEO.
Lucid Motors has raised more than $1 billion in venture capital funding as of mid-2020. Prominent investors include Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Venrock, Mitsui, and Jafco, and the China Environmental Fund.
Headquartered in Newark, CA., the company has approximately 500 employees. It completed the construction of its first manufacturing facility in late-2020.
On January 11th, 2021, Bloomberg reported that Lucid Motors is in talks to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Churchill Capital Corp IV (CCIV).
On February 22nd, 2021, Lucid Motors announced the SPAC merger with CCIV. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2021, and provides Lucid Motors with approximately $4.4 billion in cash to begin delivering cars and expand.
Choosing a SPAC to go public eliminates the need for a traditional IPO, taking the company public much more rapidly.
Read details about the Lucid Motors SPAC Merger here.
12. Databricks IPO
Databricks is a data science and artificial intelligence cloud and web-based software service. The company is on a mission to simplify and democratize data and AI, helping data teams solve the world’s toughest problems.
Its primary product is a web-enabled Unified Data Platform that empowers data engineers at Fortune 500 companies to import massive amounts of data from existing sources, then compile the data to provide business intelligence.
Understanding enterprise data optimizes operations and helps companies stay one step ahead of competitors.
In terms of what this company actually does, most people aren’t going to understand. The main takeaway is that data analytics is an extraordinary long-term trend over the decades to come, positioning Databricks to ride the wave.
Bloomberg reported in late 2020 that the company would pursue an IPO in 2020. However, the company completed a fresh round of private funding in early 2021, potentially delaying an inevitable public debut.
Read more about the Databricks IPO.
13. Epic Games IPO
Epic Games is a video game company based in Cary, NC. It’s best known as the creator of the first-person shooter game Fortnite, one of the ten most popular online games globally, with more than 350 million registered users.
Fortnite is free to play, but the company makes money from in-app purchases (that do not give players an advantage).
Since its founding, the company has created more than 50 games and recently acquired the HouseParty smartphone app and several game development technologies.
It also created the Unreal Engine, a game development software framework for use by other game developers.
Epic Games was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeney, who is the majority equity owner.
Read more about the Epic Games IPO.
14. Starlink IPO (SpaceX Spinoff)
Starlink is a business subsidiary of the private company SpaceX. SpaceX intends to build a low earth orbit satellite constellation that provides internet access to the world.
The web of satellites known as Starlink will connect to ground receivers, making it possible to provide internet at competitive prices, especially to underserved global communities. Internet speeds are expected to be 50Mbs to 150Mbs.
Customers will include governments and consumers. As of late 2020, nearly 1,000 satellites have been launched into orbit, and the service’s testing has commenced. The satellites ride the Falcon 9 rocket for insertion into orbit.
Twelve thousand satellites are expected to orbit Earth during the first phase, with the potential to increase that number to 42,000. SpaceX estimates the Starlink business could generate $30 billion by 2025.
In February 2020, CNBC confirmed SpaceX is considering a Starlink spinoff. A public Starlink company could help SpaceX raise funds for its primary objective, to put humans on Mars, by capitalizing on investors’ desires to ride the Midas touch of CEO Elon Musk.
Read more about the Starlink IPO.
15. Acorns IPO
Acorns is a “financial everything” technology app that popularized micro-investing, a strategy that involves frequent small investments. Its primary draw is the ability to ’round up’ spending amounts and invest dollar fractions into ETFs.
For example, if you spend $2.40 on a coffee, the app automatically invests $0.60 into a pre-determined portfolio of passive index ETFs. It’s also added a checking account, making it simple to manage spending and investing in one place.
It charges a low flat fee per month.
Acorns has partnered with CNBC to deliver educational features to promote financial wellness. The partnership offers inspiring stories and expert advice on fundamental personal finance and investing topics. Giving this relationship, Acorns is an upcoming IPO that may receive more TV coverage than other IPOs.
The company was founded by father and son Walter Cruttenden and Jeffrey Cruttenden and is based in Irvine, CA.
Completed Deals in 2021
Petco IPO – COMPLETED 01/14/2021
Petco Animal Supplies, Inc., is the ubiquitous North American strip mall staple feeding the American obsession with pets. The San Diego-based company has approximately 1,500 retail stores.
Petco is a privately-owned company, 50%-owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and 50% by CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm.
The company announced its intent to go public on December 4th, 2020, releasing its SEC S-1 filing. It will trade under the Petco stock symbol “WOOF”, and its name will formally change to Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc.
Read the Petco IPO S-1 filing here.
Petco sold 48 million shares at a price of $18 on January 14th. The Petco stock price opened at $26 and traded up as high as 70% during its first day of trading.
Bumble IPO – COMPLETED 02/11/2021
Bumble is a relationship app that empowers women to make the first move. Its primary service is less about hooking up than Tinder and more about long-term relationships.
Since its founding, the company has added services for plutonic relationships. BFF is for same-sex friendships, and BIZZ is a career networking app.
Bumble is led by Whitney Wolfe Herd, a former co-founder of Tinder, who left to start a new dating app catering to women.
Bloomberg reported on December 18th that Bumble has filed confidentially and aims to execute its IPO in February 2021, seeking a valuation of $6 to $8 billion.
The Bumble S-1 filing was released to the public on January 15th, 2021, and an amended version on February 8th confirming the company would complete its public offering on February 11th.
Bumble sold 50 million shares at $43 per share, raising approximately $2.2 billion and valuing the company at $8 billion. The stock price opened at $76 per share.
Read more about the Bumble IPO, including terms, valuation, and price range. Download the S-1 filing from that link.
Conclusion – Upcoming IPOs 2021
Dozens of companies will have their initial public offerings in 2021. This list attempts to include only those with the most investor interest.
If there are others you think should be on the list, contact me, or leave your reasons why in the comments below.
What upcoming IPOs are you most excited about? What broker do you use to access upcoming IPOs?
Unicorn illustration by Wild0ne via Pixabay