RETURN OF THE TECH IPO

FOR MORE THAN A YEAR, tech startups and the venture capitalists who fund them have been hoping for the return of a roaring stock market and, with it, a chance to bring new tech stocks to market. While 2021 was a big year for initial public offerings given the strong equity market and low interest rates, the IPO machine ground to a halt in 2022; amid rising interest rates and volatile markets, few companies were willing to risk a debut. In the meantime, though, the pipeline of promising companies waiting for just the right moment to go public was filling up.

Now, with the outlook on inflation looking a bit more optimistic, some market watchers are hopeful the IPO backlog will start to clear by the second half of 2023. About 200 companies are on deck for possible listing on the NASDAQ. Among them: the payments company Stripe, valued at $95 billion the last time it raised funding, and the corporate travel booking company Trip Actions, now valued at about $12 billion. Besides being a possible investment opportunity—albeit a very risky one—a resurgement tech industry could be a sign of a healing economy. How will it all pan out? Stay tuned. peter carbonara