With Box soaring 66 percent in its long-awaited debut this month, and Shake Shack, the New York burger chain, opening trading this week at an astonishing 131 percent above its offer price, 2015 is off to strong start for IPOs.
According to a study released this earlier this month by Chicago-based consulting group BDO USA, the majority of capital market experts and investment banks expect 2015 to either match or exceed 2014, which saw the largest number of IPOs since 2007 and the most money raised since 2000. There is more cash to be made this year, many bankers predict, as the study forecasts a 2 percent increase in U.S. IPOs, which could raise $85 billion in total, about a billion more than last year.
So, which companies will have the banner deals? Financial research firm PrivCo offered their pick of the top 25 IPOs of 2015, 10 of which are listed below. Half of the 25 are based in the Bay Area. Among the top 10 are big, big names in the tech world: Uber, which would be a mind-boggling IPO, given that it has the mind-boggling valuation of $41 billion, the second-most-valued VC-backed company in the world; Elon Musk s SpaceX, which has $825 million in annual revenue; Palantir, that secretive company founded by Peter Thiel that recently nabbed a $15 billion valuation and is raising more cash; Dropbox, the troubled cloud-storage and file-sharing company that may try to ride Box s coattails; Airbnb, which, despite continued battles with regulators, has climbed to a $10 billion valuation; and Square, which may have found its footing after a rough 2014 during which many had thought the company was approaching obsolescence.
And let s not forget Chobani, the popular Greek yogurt brand. The tasty dairy treat made $1.2 billion in 2013.
Once company that may not be on the list? Spotify. The Swedish company is seeking to raise $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, and may postpone its IPO, which was expected this year, as a result.
And let s not forget the biotech boom in the Bay Area, which may not grab the same headlines or stratospheric dollar amounts as software and mobile companies but are equally driving the IPO craze. This past week, Avinger of Redwood City, which makes treatments for arterial diseases, and Fremont s Zosano Pharma, an osteoporosis treatment firm, made successful debuts. Next week, Palo Alto-based Carbylan Theraputics, which makes a treatment for arthritis pain in the knee, is expected to go public and raise $75 million, and Asante Solutions in Sunnyvale, which makes an insulin pump system with pre-filled cartridges, is looking at a $49 million debut.
The biotech surge continues from last year. Data provided by Ipreo, a market intelligence firm, shows that there were more IPOs from biotech and biopharmaceutical companies in 2014 than in the previous three years combined, both in the United States and from Silicon Valley. Of the 78 such companies went public last year, 13 of those firms were from the Bay Area, and they brought in $1.29 billion total — blowing away previous highs since 2000.
But that was last year. Moving on to 2015, here are the top-10 anticipated IPOs.
1. Uber
Location: San Francisco
2013 Revenue: $765,000,000
Total Funding: $3,410,640,000
2. SpaceX
Location: Hawthorne
2014 Revenue: $825,000,000
Total Funding: $1,284,854,998
3. Palantir Technologies
Location: Palo Alto
2014 Revenue: $900,000,000
Total Funding: $1,160,989,665
4. Dropbox
Location: San Francisco
2014 Revenue: $275,000,000
Total Funding: $1,107,215,000
5. Bloom Energy
Location: Sunnyvale
2013 Revenue: $600,000,000
Total Funding: $1,047,406,742
6. Cloudera
Location: Palo Alto
2013 Revenue: $156,000,000
Total Funding: $1,042,400,000
7. SurveyMonkey
Location: Palo Alto
2013 Revenue: $162,000,000
Total Funding: $915,000,000
8. Airbnb
Location: San Francisco
2013 Revenue: $415,000,000
Total Funding: $884,388,408
9. Chobani
Location: New Berlin, NY
2013 Revenue: $1,220,000,000
10. Square
Location: San Francisco, CA
2013 Revenue: $900,000,000
Total Funding: $680,897,016
Source: PrivCo
