Special Report
18 Biggest Companies That May IPO in 2017
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Investors generally expect companies valued at billions of dollars to go public. Companies that issue an initial public offering (IPO) can use the funds to invest in growth opportunities. In exchange, they are exposed to much greater public scrutiny and will have a larger group of shareholders to answer to.
Lately, several high-profile tech IPOs, including companies like Groupon and Twitter, have proven very disappointing. Perhaps for this reason, and also potentially due to an uncertain macroeconomic environment, many massive companies have remained private. Others, such as Snap, Inc., the owner of Snapchat worth an estimated $20 billion, have announced plans to go public in 2017.
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PrivCo, a company specializing in the finances of private corporations, provided 24/7 Wall St. with its estimates of revenues, valuations, and funds raised by some of the largest private global companies. PrivCo listed 18 major private companies that appear poised to issue a public offering some time in 2017. These companies range from MapR Technologies, which has a valuation of $488 million, to Uber, which is valued at $68 billion.
Click here to see the 18 companies to IPO in 2017.
All of the companies on this list currently have hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in funding. Before going public, funding comes from a range of sources including banks, investment firms, and venture capitalists. For a given company’s private investors, an IPO provides an exit strategy, or an opportunity to withdraw funding, and profit, from their investment. The alternative is to look for a single strategic buyer.
Large companies that have raised significant capital are often cutting-edge tech companies, and most of this list consists of such companies. New technologies and new markets present opportunities for startups to establish themselves and gain substantial revenue.
Spotify, which PrivCo estimates will be worth $8 billion when it goes public, has been the most popular music streaming application. DJI is the global leader in the manufacturing of private-use drones. Uber has forever changed the makeup of public taxi systems in cities around the world.
Several of the companies on this list represent new media, either news sources or communications. Snap, Inc., which has already filed its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering, owns Snapchat, one of the hottest social media apps in the world today. Buzzfeed and Vice Media, which have helped change the way content is read and distributed on the internet and television, are also on this list of potential valuable IPOs.
As most of the major companies on this list represent substantial venture capital investment in new technologies, a large share are located in or near the Silicon Valley area in California.
Other companies on this list are not American, but have found success abroad following the models of certain American tech companies. Consumer electronics company Xiaomi, which is a leading producer of smartphones, is considered by many to be the Chinese Apple, while Coupang is a massive South Korean e-commerce company that has been likened to Amazon.
PrivCo provided 24/7 Wall St. with a list of companies that may go public in 2017. PrivCo established its list using a number of filters–including minimum thresholds for revenues, revenue growth, total funding, and location. All funding and revenue figures were provided by PrivCo, and are as of the most recent available funding period.
These are the 18 biggest companies to IPO in 2017.
18. MapR Technologies
> Industry: Data analytics software
> Total funding: $224 million
> Last known valuation: $488 million
> 2015 revenue: $130 million
Data analytics software company MapR was founded in 2009. Due to its subscription-based model, the revenue of MapR is relatively steady and predictable. The company has raised hundreds of millions in recent years from a handful of companies, including Alphabet’s growth equity investment fund, Google Capital. The company is expected to go public in mid-2017.
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17. MediaMath
> Industry: Adtech
> Total funding: $200 million
> Last known valuation: $1.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $601 million
MediaMath helps companies optimize their digital advertising in a field known as adtech. The company’s demand-side platform is one of its most successful products and one of the reasons the company was able to raise more than $200 million. Two of the company’s competitors have gone public in the last two years and some industry observers speculate MediaMath will soon follow suit.
16. Buzzfeed
> Industry: Publishing
> Total funding: $496 million
> Last known valuation: $1.7 billion
> 2015 revenue: $168 million
With journalism increasingly moving online and away from print, several publications have pioneered the new forms of media consumption. At the forefront of this transition is media giant Buzzfeed. The company, which helped popularize the so-called listicle, is one of the most popular sites on the web with approximately 200 million unique visitors each month. The company has raised nearly $500 million. At a 2015 tech conference, Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced the company’s intention to go public.
15. Blue Apron
> Industry: Meal delivery
> Total funding: $194 million
> Last known valuation: $2.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $360 million
Several companies have benefitted from the growth of online food ordering and delivery. Unlike Seamless, which facilitates restaurant deliveries, and Freshdirect, which delivers food from supermarkets, Blue Apron delivers meal kits that include food and instructions to make the meal. Blue Apron has been the most successful in the field making $360 million in revenue in 2015. Earlier this year, the company began meeting with a number of banks to evaluate and compare IPO strategies.
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14. Domo
> Industry: Business analytics
> Total funding: $600 million
> Last known valuation: $2.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $75 million
Domo is a data analytics and visualization platform originally designed for executives to better understand the performance of their companies. Domo CEO Josh James initially wanted to go public by the end of 2015 but held off due to market volatility. The company has so far raised $600 million from investment firms, including Blackrock, T. Rowe Price, and Fidelity Investments.
13. Social Finance
> Industry: Lending platform
> Total funding: $1.4 billion
> Last known valuation: $4.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $115 million
Social Finance, or SoFi, is a San Francisco-based tech startup. SoFi was founded five years ago as a peer-to-peer lending platform for Stanford University students and alumni. Today, it has evolved into a nationwide finance company that offers mortgages, personal loans, and wealth management services. SoFi is the second largest online lender after publically traded Lending Club.
12. Vice Media
> Industry: Media
> Total funding: $730 million
> Last known valuation: $4.5 billion
> 2015 revenue: $915 million
What began in 1994 as a free magazine in Montreal is now a Brooklyn-based multi platform media giant that made $915 million in revenue in 2015. Vice Media is a news outlet that often reports on edgy topics, such as sex and drugs, and is marketed to millennials. According to PrivCo estimates, Vice’s valuation at IPO may be close to $5.0 billion.
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11. Coupang
> Industry: E-commerce
> Total funding: $1.4 billion
> Last known valuation: $4.7 billion
> 2015 revenue: $968 million
There are a number of highly-valued, private e-commerce companies that are making names for themselves. South Korean e-commerce company Coupang is one. Sometimes referred to as the Amazon of Korea, the company has raised $1.4 billion and is worth nearly $5 billion. While initially the company was eager to go public, in a 2015 press conference, Coupang founder Kim Beom-suk indicated that it may hold off, as long as the company can raise money without an IPO.
10. Chobani
> Industry: Food
> Total funding: N/A
> Last known valuation: $5.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $1.6 billion
Created by a Turkish immigrant, the Chobani yogurt company was just an idea in 2005. Today, it is the largest Greek yogurt brand in the United States. Despite making nearly $1.6 billion in revenue last year, the company has been borrowing heavily and may need to go public to raise more capital. Discussing the widely anticipated IPO, Chobani’s CFO Mick Beekhuizen told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, “Everything is on the table.”
9. Spotify
> Industry: Music streaming
> Total funding: $2.1 billion
> Last known valuation: $8.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $2.2 billion
Spotify, an unlimited music streaming service that launched in 2008, has 30 million paid subscribers. Some industry observers have speculated that recent changes in the Swedish company’s leadership and the apparent shift of its finance operations to its New York office signal an IPO in 2017. Due in part to hefty commissions paid to the music industry, Spotify has lost money each year it has been in operation, and an IPO could certainly help give the company some breathing room.
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8. Stripe
> Industry: Electronic payment
> Total funding: $190 million
> Last known valuation: $9.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $450 million
When Facebook and Twitter users make in-app purchases, it is e-payment company Stripe that facilitates these financial transactions. Stripe accounts for 14% of all electronic payments, the second largest share in the industry after PayPal. Headquartered in San Francisco, Stripe supports businesses in 25 countries. Though many speculate the company will go public in 2017, co-founder John Collison recently told Bloomberg News that the company is happy with its private status.
7. Dropbox
> Industry: Cloud computing
> Total funding: $1.1 billion
> Last known valuation: $10.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $558 million
Cloud storage and sharing company Dropbox provides services to 500 million individual users and 200,000 businesses worldwide. Now worth roughly $10 billion, Dropbox is currently one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Insiders report that the company has already met with advisors to discuss an IPO in 2017.
6. DJI
> Industry: Drones
> Total funding: $600 million
> Last known valuation: $10.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $1.0 billion
Dà-Jiāng Innovations Science and Technology Co., better known as DJI, is by far the world’s leading producer in the increasingly popular consumer drone industry. The company’s Phantom drone line, which is now in its fourth generation, is the most popular drone brand in the world. While exact numbers are not available, the company has sold close to 1 million units worldwide. While DJI CEO Frank Wang Tao denied plans for a public offering, a leaked company document suggests the company may go public in 2017.
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5. Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)
> Industry: Aerospace
> Total funding: $1.2 billion
> Last known valuation: $12.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $1.1 billion
One of the world’s largest private space exploration companies, SpaceX was founded in 2002 by billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also co-founded Tesla Motors. The company has reached several important milestones, including vertically landing a rocket on a drone ship in the ocean. While the company is shrouded in speculation about a potential IPO, some argue its $1.2 billion funding and Falcon 9 rocket launch failure in September make a public offering unlikely next year.
4. WeWork
> Industry: Real estate management
> Total funding: $1.7 billion
> Last known valuation: $15.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $250 million
Renting out office space to businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, WeWork is effectively a real estate management company. However, WeWork has an extremely high $15 billion valuation, which is more closely aligned with major Silicon Valley tech companies. At a tech conference over the summer, company CEO Adam Neumann stated he was not afraid to take the company public, and indicated he was eager to make his investors money.
3. Snap Inc.
> Industry: Social media
> Total funding: $3.2 billion
> Last known valuation: $20.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $59 million
Describing itself as a camera company, the Snapchat social media platform has over 150 million daily users. Last month, the company filed paperwork for an IPO and is expected to go public in March 2017. Currently valued at about $20 billion, the messaging company is the most valuable American social media platform to go public since Facebook hit the trading floor in 2012 with an $81.2 billion valuation.
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2. Xiaomi
> Industry: Consumer electronics
> Total funding: $1.5 billion
> Last known valuation: $45.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $12.5 billion
Much like Apple, Chinese tech company Xiaomi produces a wide variety of popular consumer electronic devices, including smartphones. Based its most recent round of funding in 2014, the company is valued at $45 billion. Xiaomi has struggled to maintain market share recently, and some have speculated the company’s window for a public offering is closing.
1. Uber
> Industry: Car service
> Total funding: $13.0 billion
> Last known valuation: $68.0 billion
> 2015 revenue: $1.5 billion
Valued at $68 billion, Uber is the most valuable tech startup in the world. Though CEO Travis Kalanick has publicly stated his intent to hold off on a public offering for as long as possible, it is not clear how long that may be. Unlike some companies that may go public in 2017, Uber can continue funding its business without an IPO. However, others have argued shareholders will seek to have the company go public while revenues are still rising.
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