In the past 100 days, 30 new private companies have entered our Caplight IPO Tracker, the most of any recent period.

@ServiceTitan's Q4 IPO eased concerns about public market reception of VC-backed tech companies. The company had a 40% day 1 pop, which has been sustained. Overall, across the 4 VC-backed companies that took the IPO leap last year (@ reddit, @ rubrik, @ asterralabs, @servicetitan), the average stock price is up 140% since listing day.

And yet, the Unicorn herd remains mostly in the private market stable… for now.

Half a quarter into 2025, our IPO Tracker has picked up dozens of private companies making moves signaling IPO preparation.

@ Klarna is the latest to make waves, with reports indicating the company could go public as soon as April. The company has been on our tracker since October of 2022.

Here’s what Klarna’s IPO path has looked like so far (sources in comments):

💊 Down round from a valuation of $45B to $6.7B, resetting expectations to align with public comps - July 2022

🇬🇧 Restructured as a UK entity in preparation for an eventual IPO - November 2023

🏦 Klarna in talks with @Goldman to lead its IPO – August 2024

🕵🏻‍♂️ Klarna confidentially files – November 2024

📣 @Financial Times reports Klarna aiming for an April 2025 IPO – February 2025

The same FT report mentions a target valuation of “up to $15B”—which might surprise those relying on last-round valuation as an indication of current value. Klarna’s last round in June this year valued it at roughly ~$12B.

We looked at secondary market pricing to gauge where the market is going. Caplight MarketPrice™ has the company’s secondary market valuation closer to $14B*.

What do you think? Does Klarna break the door open for a Unicorn stampede in 2025? How will investors think about valuation?

*as of the publishing of the FT article, February 7, 2025.

**Past performance is not indicative of future results.

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