A hard year for software IPOs
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If you’re looking to measure tech IPO market strength by the amount of money companies have raised, 2026 is certainly up there.
U.S. venture-backed technology 1 companies have secured nearly $90 billion in domestic public offerings this year, per Crunchbase data. That’s already the second-highest annual tally on record, and we’ve still got a few months to go.
However, virtually all the money went to two companies. SpaceX alone accounted for 83% of the $90 billion raised this year, while AI infrastructure company Cerebras Systems scooped up another 6%. A potential offering from Anthropic, meanwhile, could be even bigger.
The remaining field is comparatively modest. Just 21 other venture-backed technology companies went public this year in sizable Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange offerings 2, per Crunchbase data. Collectively, their offerings, which include traditional IPOs and SPAC deals, pulled in less than $10 billion.
This small cohort is intriguing for what it excludes as well as what it includes. Enterprise software, long a staple industry among venture-backed IPOs, was essentially a no-show this year. Energy, defense and space tech, by contrast, were well-represented. We also saw smaller offerings from other sectors, including medical devices and consumer-facing startups.
Here are some of the key findings in more detail:
Energy powers the most IPOs: About a quarter of this year’s tech startup offerings hail from the energy sector. The largest of these was from geothermal energy provider Fervo Energy. Several nuclear power-focused startups also made their debuts, including X-energy and Hadron Energy, developers of small modular nuclear reactors, as well as Standard Nuclear, focused on advanced nuclear fuel.
A dash of quantum, defense, aerospace, devices and consumer: Beyond energy, quantum computing company Quantinuum delivered one of the year’s larger debuts, as did equipment rental platform EquipmentShare. Defense tech and aerospace were also strong performers, with offerings from satellite intelligence provider HawkEye 360 and spacecraft developer York Space Systems. And on the consumer front, e-bike and scooter platform Lime finally made its market entrance, albeit at a valuation below its one-time peak.
An IPO SaaS-pocalipse: But what about SaaS? Mostly MIA. The paucity of enterprise software offerings this year isn’t entirely surprising given the impact of AI on the sector. VCs are pouring capital into a newer generation of AI-first platforms in legal tech, accounting and other enterprise software sectors. Existing SaaS unicorns are also moving fast to incorporate more AI in their offerings.
One end result is there are an awful lot of SaaS unicorns and former unicorns that have concluded this year is not the time to pursue an IPO.
Winner-takes-almost-all
Another end result is that investment returns are looking more concentrated than ever.
Of course, winning big or not at all is far from a new thing in the startup world. Tech venture returns have always been propped up largely by a few enormous wins, with the remainder of portfolio companies producing either losses or smaller profitable exits. But lately, the winner-take-almost-all-the-IPO-proceeds tilt is more pronounced than ever.
The pipeline of tech companies that have filed for future IPOs doesn’t offer much consolation that this pattern will change. Giant potential market debuts from Anthropic and OpenAI still dominate IPO chatter. Enterprise SaaS offerings do not.
Related Crunchbase query:
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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Does not include biotech companies or companies acquired by private equity firms.↩ -
Offerings that raised $40 million or more.↩
Tagsunicorn
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