New York (CNN Business)Unicorns, the nickname for multi-billion dollar startups looking to go public, are starting to become an endangered species on Wall Street. (Of course, unicorns are also fictitious beasts. But you catch our drift.)
The market for initial public offerings, as well as for SPACs — companies debuting through mergers with blank-check special purpose acquisition companies — often dries up in the summer. But there has been an even more pronounced dearth of IPOs this year due to the volatility in the broader market.
According to data from Renaissance Capital, a firm that researches and invests in IPOs, there have been only 53 IPOs so far this year, down more than 80% from the same period in 2021. What’s more, only 94 companies have filed for IPOs in 2022, a decrease of 70% from a year ago.
This means that there may not be a meaningful pickup in new stocks making their Wall Street debuts anytime soon. Still, experts are hoping that some unicorns could hit the market later in 2022.
Grocery delivery leader Instacart filed confidentially for an IPO earlier this year, meaning that it doesn’t have to give many financial details just yet. Instacart valued itself at $24 billion shortly before its IPO filing, but that’s down sharply from the peak valuation of $39 billion in 2021.
There are also reports that private investors in Instacart have cut their valuations even further. It’s not yet clear when exactly Instacart will go public.