🚀 The IPO Boom Is Back – And It’s Loud

After years of stagnation, the IPO engine is roaring again — and it’s crypto that just stepped on the gas.

This week, Bullish, the Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange, made a dramatic entrance on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares more than doubled in early trading before settling up 84% by market close — a staggering debut in a market that had been frozen for over three years.

But Bullish isn’t an outlier — it’s a signal.

In just the past few weeks, we’ve seen:

• Figma, the design software powerhouse, skyrocket 250% on its IPO day.

• Circle, a stablecoin issuer, gain 168% on its public debut.

• Fintech players like Chime and eToro post strong first-day pops of 37% and 29%, respectively.

• Health-tech names like Hinge Health and Omada Health also find smooth sailing into the public markets.

After a long, painful drought, the IPO window has swung wide open — and the floodgates may be next.

🛑 From Freeze to Frenzy: What Changed?

It wasn’t long ago that the IPO market felt completely shut down.

High inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty — including tariff threats from President Trump earlier this year — had venture-backed companies staying private and clinging to cash. Growth took a backseat to profitability. Roadshows were shelved. And Wall Street was holding its breath.

Now? That breath has been exhaled — with force.

Investor confidence is surging. The Nasdaq is up over 40% from its April low. Tech sentiment is on fire, and the backlog of late-stage startups is finally moving.

NYSE President Lynn Martin hinted last month that Figma’s high-profile IPO could “open the floodgates.” And Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman confirmed that there’s now a “very healthy list” of companies planning IPOs in the second half of 2025, just in time for the holiday season.

On the docket: StubHub has updated its prospectus, Klarna is reportedly in prep mode, and more than two dozen venture-backed U.S. companies valued at $10 billion+ are believed to be eyeing the public markets, according to CB Insights.

It’s go-time for holiday campaigns

Roku Ads Manager makes it easy to extend your Q4 campaign to performance CTV.

You can:

• Easily launch self-serve CTV ads

• Repurpose your social content for TV

• Drive purchases directly on-screen with shoppable ads

• A/B test to discover your most effective offers

The holidays only come once a year. Get started now with a $500 ad credit when you spend your first $500 today with code: ROKUADS500. Terms apply.

Get started today.

🧠 But Are IPOs Being Priced Right?

While the IPO party is back, not everyone is celebrating.

Big first-day pops — like Figma’s 250% gain — have rekindled an old debate: Are investment banks underpricing IPOs on purpose? Venture capitalist Bill Gurley, a vocal critic of the traditional IPO process, is back on his soapbox.

Gurley argues that these massive pops reflect intentional mispricing — a transfer of value from companies to big institutional investors. As he put it during Figma’s debut:

His solution? Direct listings — a model where companies skip the underpricing and let market demand set the price from the start. While that approach has gained some ground, Wall Street’s entrenched interests and the appeal of guaranteed capital from traditional IPOs continue to keep direct listings on the sidelines.

Still, the pricing debate is far from settled. IPO advisor Lise Buyer offers a different view, noting that companies only float a small slice of shares — in Figma’s case, just 7%. If companies execute well post-IPO, they have plenty of room to sell additional shares at higher valuations.

And some are doing exactly that: Circle just announced a 10 million-share secondary offering, and bankers for CoreWeave, up 150% since its March IPO, are already coordinating block trades.

⚖️ Enter the Regulators

While investors and founders are watching market sentiment, policymakers are beginning to shift their stance.

New SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said he wants to “make IPOs great again” by reducing complexity around disclosures and litigation — two of the top concerns for startups eyeing public life.

His first conversation with Nasdaq’s Friedman focused on exactly that: making it easier and more appealing for high-growth companies to enter the public markets. But specifics remain scarce, and the startup ecosystem is still waiting to see how — or if — these promises translate into meaningful reform.

Meanwhile, pressure remains on the Federal Trade Commission, where Chair Lina Khan has drawn fire from venture investors for cracking down on big M&A deals. Many in tech argue that stricter acquisition rules are making IPOs the only viable exit path for startups — which only raises the stakes for getting the process right.

⚠️ Caution Ahead?

There’s no denying the excitement. But there’s also a whiff of déjà vu.

Lise Buyer likened the current climate to the dot-com bubble of the late '90s, noting that the gap between institutional IPO pricing and retail investor enthusiasm is wider than it’s been in decades.

The good news? Today’s IPO candidates typically have real revenue, strong fundamentals, and clear business models — unlike the hype-driven dot-com era. But even solid companies can falter if the market gets too frothy.

🔍 Final Take

The IPO window is officially open, and it’s drawing serious interest from crypto, fintech, SaaS, and health-tech alike. For founders and investors, this is the moment they’ve been waiting for — but it won’t last forever.

Whether you're prepping a company to go public, investing in new offerings, or just watching from the sidelines, one thing is clear:

The IPO game is back. And it’s moving fast.