It’s important to remember that regulations can only bear so much blame for the lack of initial public offerings. A bigger part of it is the market – where banks steer deal flow, availability of capital and high valuations in private fundraising rounds, and overall public market performance and perceptions. This Bloomberg article says there are reasons for optimism for those of us on Team IPO – with a few caveats:

At nearly the half-way mark of the year, IPOs on US exchanges have raised $29.1 billion, surging 45% versus the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

That’s not nearly as good as it sounds.

Proceeds from IPOs are actually down from last year, when you excise the $12.1 billion of blank-check vehicle listings — an increase of more than 400% from last year. While special purpose acquisition companies have raised a lot of money in listings, some of the underwriters’ fees are deferred until the blank-check merges with a private firm and takes it public. That activity remains depressed compared to the heady levels of 2021.

Excluding SPACs and tiny listings by companies raising less than $50 million, only 33 IPOs have priced this year, down from 41 in the first half of 2024.

I’m going to take a “glass half-full” view of these stats and our current environment. For one thing, the article shares predictions that the second half of 2025 and into 2026 will be a busy time for public offerings.

Second, even though the article disregards “tiny listings,” those deals help disprove the stereotype that today’s public markets are only for later-stage companies with huge valuations. The smaller companies are also an important part of the market – and they’re often pretty fun to work with, too.

– Liz Dunshee