FACEBOOK
$16.0 BILLION
TWITTER
$2.1 B.
2012 2013 2014 2015
LENDINGCLUB
WORKDAY
GOPRO
ZAYO
FIREEYE
TABLEAU
PURE STORAGE FITBIT
EIGHT YEARS
OF TECH IPOs
IPO VALUE:
$5 BILLION
$1
BILLION
$500 MILLION
$250 M. $100 M.
0
200
400
$600 million
AVERAGE
AMOUNT RAISED
$669.8 M. $212.1 M. $177.6 M. $194.6 M.
ANNUAL TOTAL RAISED:
$20.1 BILLION
$6.1 BILLION $5.9 BILLION $3.1 BILLION
ETSY
SQUARE
42
FORTUNE.COM // JUNE.1.19
WELCOME TO THE YEAR of the giant tech
IPO. A cavalcade of so-called unicorns,
privately held companies valued at $1 bil-
lion or more, is galloping toward supersize
initial public offerings. Uber alone raised
$8.1 billion in its May debut. The 10-year-
old company is so big that it would have
ranked No. 280 on this year’s Fortune 500,
based on revenue, if it had released its
financials earlier.
Ride-hailing app Lyft and online bul-
letin board Pinterest are just some of
the other boldface names that have also
held huge stock offerings. Meanwhile,
workplace-messaging service Slack filed
for a direct listing, bypassing the cumber-
All signs point to a record-breaking year for U.S. tech IPOs,
as hot companies like Uber, Lyft, and Pinterest cash in.
By Robert Hackett
TECH’S UNICORNS
FE AST AT
THE IPO TROUGH
A wave of high-profile tech IPOs by the likes of Uber, Lyft,
and Pinterest is making this a standout year. On average,
individual tech companies are raising far more in 2019
than in any of the previous seven years.
SOURCES: S&P GLOBAL; CB INSIGHTS
