Who’s Going Public in the Summer IPO Rush?
The recently frozen IPO market is heating up, and companies are racing to go public before the end of summer
The pandemic almost completely shut down the IPO market this spring, crushing the stock market and marking April and May as the slowest public offering run since 2009. It also dashed the ambitious plans of IPO hopefuls, including DoorDash, Robinhood, and Airbnb.
But as the stock market has surged back, so too has the voracious appetite for public offerings. Many companies are now rushing to go public before the end of summer. On Thursday, two not yet profitable VC-backed companies had big public market debuts: Lemonade, a tech startup specializing in renters and homeowners insurance, and Accolade, an employee benefits software company. Lemonade, which raised $319 million at $29 per share, finished the day up almost 140%, with a market cap of more than $3 billion. Meanwhile, Accolade, which raised $220 million at $22 per share, had an opening day pop of 35%, valuing the company at more than $1 billion.
That’s coming on the heels of business analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet’s $1.7 billion IPO earlier in the week and recent IPOs from grocery chain Albertsons, sales software data provider ZoomInfo, online car dealership Vroom, and record label…
