2019 Unicorn IPO Outlook: Eyes on Uber and Lyft
Experts predict 2019 will be another strong year for tech IPOs with all eyes on Uber and Lyft.
The tech sector sees a strong IPO outlook for 2019 following a highly successful 2018, where 30 more companies go public than the previous year. Proceeds from these offerings rise 32% to reach $47 billion, with over 50 tech companies making their public debut, including notable names like Dropbox, Elastic, and Tenable.
Industry experts believe this upward trend continues into the new year, with all eyes focusing on major unicorns like Uber and Lyft to create market momentum. Private equity and venture capital firms currently support companies in private markets for longer periods, which directly leads to significantly larger IPO sizes when these businesses finally go public.
While political uncertainty under the Trump administration remains a wildcard factor, Renaissance Capital's watchlist includes 234 companies, and analysts expect 60% of them to pursue an IPO. This projected volume easily surpasses the last standout year of 2014, which saw approximately 35 tech IPOs, and highlights the roughly 20 enterprise tech offerings from 2018 that deliver average returns of 2.2%.