After a prolonged winter, the IPO market in 2025 has finally thawed, with companies from to to launching big debuts in the first eight months of the year. So, who’s next?
To help answer that question, we used 颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 to curate a list of 14 venture-backed companies in sectors ranging from AI to fintech to consumer goods that could be on tap as IPO candidates in the foreseeable future. Some of them are known IPO hopefuls; others, more under-the-radar picks that nonetheless have strong credentials for a public-market launch. Let鈥檚 take a closer look.
Fintech
There is perhaps no IPO more anticipated than that of payments giant Stripe. And, unsurprisingly, the fintech is 鈥渧ery likely鈥 to go public, according to SA国际传媒 predictions.
However, Stripe seems to be doing so well as a private company that some people speculate it has no reason to take to the public markets. Stripe, which has dual headquarters in San Francisco and Ireland, is not only the most-valuable fintech in the world, it鈥檚 one of the most-valuable private companies, period. But instead of going public, it鈥檚 thus far been offering early investors and employees liquidity through secondary sales. In February, for example, Stripe announced in which investors would buy up shares from current and former employees at a valuation of $91.5 billion. Stripe passed the $1.4 trillion total payment volume threshold in 2024. Says : 鈥淭here are no perfectly reliable sources for Stripe鈥檚 revenue, but some sources estimate they surpassed $16B in 2023.鈥
Since its 2010 inception, Stripe has from investors such as ,,, and . Whether it finally decides to take the plunge into the public markets remains to be seen, but if it does, there is no doubt its filing will be devoured by media and fintech enthusiasts alike.
Airwallex, a Singapore-based global payments and financial platform, is also 鈥渧ery likely鈥 to go public, per SA国际传媒 predictions. CEO has stated that the plan is to have Airwallex make its public market debut by the end of 2026, although the company is reportedly 鈥溾 to list. Interestingly, Airwallex rejected a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe in 2018. And that probably wasn鈥檛 a bad move. Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia, the Stripe competitor has raised more than $1.2 billion in funding and was valued at over $6.2 billion as of its last raise 鈥 a in May 2025 that included $150 million in secondary share transfers. Investors include ,,, and 1, among others.
In August 2024, that Airwallex had reached an annual revenue run rate of $500 million after seeing major growth in its North American and European businesses. In announcing its Series F, the company that it was 鈥渙n track to hit $1 billion in annualized revenue in 2025, as businesses of all sizes look to expand globally without friction.鈥 That follows its achievement of $720 million in annualized revenue in March, up 90% year over year, according to the company. It touts more than 150,000 customers globally, including , , , , , , and .
鈥 Mary Ann Azevedo
Enterprise tech and AI
We know that AI chip company Cerebras, founded in 2016 by , has been gearing up to go public. The Sunnyvale, California-based company filed with the to go public at the end of 2024. It then delayed its offering due to regulatory scrutiny over its ties to UAE-based , which has since been cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The company is considered a 鈥減robable鈥 IPO candidate by SA国际传媒. In its filing, Cerebras noted its dependence on a single customer, Group 42, a subsidiary of its investor G42, responsible for more than 80% of revenue in 2023 and the first half of 2024. Cerebras has built a larger chip that is 10x faster for AI training and inference compared to leading GPU solutions, according to the . Its customers include , and the . Cerebras is reported to be raising which could delay its plans to go public. Still, the market conditions are good for an AI chip company. has topped $4 trillion in value and , which went public in March 2024 at $36 per share, has doubled its price from mid-July to mid-August to over $180.
Databricks, at the center of AI and data, is a strong candidate to go public in the next year. The San Francisco-based company is one of the 10 most-valuable private companies in the world, with a in revenue run rate as of Jan. 31, and on track to deliver positive free cash flow. In December, Databricks raised a $10 billion funding, the largest round in 2024, which valued it at $62 billion. The 12-year-old company has also been on a buying spree, notably purchasing AI infrastructure builder in 2023, data management service in 2024, and sql database solution developer in 2025, each at $1 billion or more. SA国际传媒 indicates it鈥檚 a 鈥減robable鈥 IPO candidate.
鈥 Gen茅 Teare
Clay sits at the red-hot intersection of AI and marketing and is a 鈥減robable鈥 IPO candidate, per SA国际传媒 predictions. Its growth metrics and scale seem to support that outlook, with the company 鈥 triple its 2024 figure. It has likewise tripled its valuation in just over a year from $500 million to $3.1 billion in a $100 million Series C raise last month. The New York-based startup, founded in 2017, is reportedly nearing profitability. It鈥檚 backed by IPO-savvy investors including , and , further bolstering its public-market credentials. The company claims to have invented the 鈥,鈥 which CEO and co-founder has described as 鈥渢he first true AI-native profession.鈥
鈥 Marlize van Romburgh
Cybersecurity
Crypto wallet startup Ledger is 鈥渧ery likely鈥 to IPO, according to SA国际传媒 predictions. That makes sense, as the French startup, founded in 2014, is well-positioned at the intersection of two currently hot industries: cybersecurity and blockchain. Paris-based Ledger offers a hardware wallet to secure crypto private keys. It has raised some $577 million from venture investors including and , per . CEO in June that Ledger is actively thinking about a U.S. stock market debut, likely within the next three years. It also has plans to expand beyond crypto security into cybersecurity more broadly. While he didn鈥檛 disclose revenue figures, Gauthier said Ledger has sold 8 million of its devices to date and estimated that 20% of the world鈥檚 crypto assets are protected via the company鈥檚 wallets. 鈥淥ur size is compatible with an IPO,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a short-medium term vision.鈥
It鈥檚 鈥減robable鈥 that security startup 1Password will go public, according to 颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 prediction model. That makes sense, given the Toronto-based startup鈥檚 disclosed financials. The company was founded in 2005 and bootstrapped for its first 14 years before receiving its first outside investment from in 2019. It’s gone on to raise $920.1 million total from venture investors, per . Its most recent raise was in 2022, when it landed a $6.2 billion valuation in a $620 million -led round. While 1Password hasn’t raised since then, it likely hasn’t needed to: Co-CEO in February that the company has been profitable since the get-go and now has more than 150,000 customers, with 75% of its business selling to enterprises. While the company hasn’t made any formal moves toward an IPO, Faugno told CRN that 鈥渨e do believe that this platform and this company can be a very large, standalone business. And we do believe that public markets are a likely stop on that journey, and an accelerator of that journey.鈥
Tanium, founded in 2007, is a frequent guest on IPO predictions lists, our own included. That’s likely because the endpoint management startup has raised a whopping $1 billion from private-market investors including ,, , and . It has also disclosed big revenue numbers to boot, that ARR topped $700 million in 2024 and that it had free cash flow margins north of 10%, making it profitable on an EBITDA basis. The company’s most recent funding-round valuation is $9 billion, though that dates to 2021. But trading on secondary-market platforms including has reportedly 鈥斅燼round $4 billion 鈥 more recently. Kirkland, Washington-based Tanium hasn’t disclosed going-public plans, and CEO 鈥 brought on last year to take over from co-founder 鈥 told Forbes 鈥渨e feel very comfortable as a private company.鈥 Still, if it were to pursue an IPO, Tanium may see a receptive market following data security platform 鈥檚 successful IPO last year.
鈥 Marlize van Romburgh
Consumer startups
Founded in 2013, hair-color brand Madison Reed has had quite some time to build up a following, and it continues to expand its reach. Launched as an online brand, it also currently sells in brick-and-mortar stores and operates a network of聽 hair color bars. Co-founded and led by , a longtime consumer-focused partner at VC firm , the San Francisco-headquartered company has raised over $220 million in equity funding as well as $50 million in debt financing. SA国际传媒 grades it as a 鈥減robable鈥 IPO candidate.
Skims, the shapewear brand co-founded by in 2019, has expanded its way into a host of product lines including sleepwear and activewear in addition to its core shapewear offerings. Funding has followed. The company has raised more than $700 million in seed and venture investment and attracted a host of well-known backers, including and . It also has a knack for staying in the news, boosted of late by a controversial sculpting . Could an IPO be next? SA国际传媒 predicts that move is 鈥減robable.鈥
鈥 Joanna Glasner
It鈥檚 unusual, to say the least, for a D2C clothing retailer to land on an IPO watch list like this one in the year 2025, but Quince is the exception. The San Francisco-based startup is a 鈥減robable鈥 IPO candidate, per SA国际传媒, a prediction likely fueled by its reportedly fast revenue growth, back-to-back funding deals, and strong brand appeal among Gen Z and millennials. The company has raised more than $260 million from investors to date, not yet including an in-the-works $200 million -led Series D that would reportedly value the company at more than $4.5 billion 鈥 double its year-earlier valuation. Quince bucks the trend when it comes to fashion startups, which have seen venture investment fall off precipitously since the peak year of 2023.
鈥 Marlize van Romburgh
Health/biotech
Mountain View, California-based Commure, a provider of AI-enabled software for health systems and clinicians, has raised more than $800 million in venture funding to date, including a led by , per SA国际传媒 data. The company also that its ARR, in the hundreds of millions, has doubled for three consecutive years. Those sound like the kind of metrics that IPO investors like, and SA国际传媒 says a listing is a probable outcome.
Inari is hoping to pioneer technology for seeds that will enable plants to make the most efficient use of land, water and fertilizer. Founded in 2016, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has raised more than $720 million in equity funding to date, a $144 million January financing. In terms of IPO potential, it helps that the company is employing two hot technologies: AI-powered predictive design and . Inari is another probable IPO candidate according to SA国际传媒.
鈥 Joanna Glasner
Defense/space tech
Sierra Space is firmly on the IPO radar. The company, named a 鈥渧ery likely鈥 IPO candidate by SA国际传媒, (including with ) and has raised $1.7 billion in total venture investment at a $5.3 billion valuation from heavyweights including and . The company has several marquee projects advancing, which include its Dream Chaser spaceplane and Orbital Reef commercial station. It also enjoys the benefit of an increasingly bullish market for space and defense startups, which have raised robust venture investment this year. The sector has already seen a successful 2025 IPO in the form of 鈥檚 August public-market debut 鈥 could Sierra be next?
鈥 Marlize van Romburgh
Related SA国际传媒 query:
Related reading:
- 30 Startups We Think Could Go Public In 2022
- Quince, A Bright Spot In Struggling D2C Fashion Space, More Than Doubles Valuation To $4.5B With Second Raise In 6 Months
Methodology
颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 utilize SA国际传媒 data 鈥 including funding and valuation, and milestones such as financial growth, key leadership hires, market share expansion and headcount growth 鈥 to forecast the likelihood of a private company launching an IPO, providing a probability score and its supporting evidence. Read more about 颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 Predictions & Insights and its methodology for IPO predictions .
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