Blue Apron and Snap had disappointing debuts this year, but others have fared much better. Of the tech companies that have gone public this year, most are trading above their IPO price.
But there haven’t been many of them, with just 15 tech companies debuting so far this year, making it the second slowest start since 2009, according to Dealogic. Although it isn’t quite as bad as the 11 seen by this time last year, it’s a disappointment to see so few companies going through when the “IPO window” is said to be open.
This is not only bad news for the venture capitalists and the LPs who invest in venture funds. It’s also bad for the startups and their employees because IPOs are one of the best ways to turn that equity compensation into cash.
But there’s more in store for the rest of the year. Roku recently unveiled its IPO filing and we broke the news that Stitch Fix and MongoDB have confidentially filed, meaning the companies are hoping to debut soon.