7 Potential IPOs In 2022: Discord, OpenSea, Impossible Foods And More

The IPO market saw record listings and capital raised in 2021. Several well-known big name companies joined the public markets in 2021, while other private companies delayed their listings or chose to raise private capital instead. Several carryovers from 2021 could go public in 2022m along with some new rumored companies. 

Here is a look at seven companies that could be among the biggest IPOs in 2022 if they materialize. 

Reddit: One of the most highly anticipated IPOs of 2022 will likely be Reddit, which recently filed confidential paperwork to go public.

The company, which is home to the popular WallStreetBets subreddit, saw an increase in users and usage in 2021. Reddit reported 366 million posts made on its site from January through November, up 19% year-over-year. Comments on posts were up 12% year-over-year to 2.3 billion.

The popularity of WallStreetBets helped boost the storyline of stock price moves for GameStop Corp GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC in 2021. The Reddit IPO could see strong demand from retail traders and funds, knowing the value of demand for shares. Tencent Holdings TCEHY owns a stake in Reddit worth around 5% to 10% of the company thanks to its investment in several funding rounds.

Discord: One company that enjoyed a boost from an increase of retail traders and the boom in non-fungible tokens was Discord. The community platform company became a place for people to share investment ideas and also for NFT projects to engage with holders and potential investors. Discord turned down a reported $10-billion buyout offer from Microsoft Corporation MSFT in 2021. The company instead turned to Sony Corp SONY for an investment and partnership.

Discord has over 140 million users and saw revenue soar from $45 million in 2019 to $130 million in 2020. Discord was valued at $15 billion in a September funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group.

OpenSea: NFT marketplace OpenSea was one of the hottest stories in 2021 as the company benefited as one of the only places to buy and sell NFTs with scale. OpenSea could be nearing an IPO as it hired Brian Roberts, the former CFO of rideshare company Lyft Inc LYFT. The move was seen as a step in the IPO route and Roberts helped strengthen the potential of a listing with his comments.

“I’ve seen a lot of P&Ls, but I’ve never seen a P&L like this,” Roberts said. “When you have a company growing as fast as this one, you’d be foolish not to think about it going public.”

OpenSea was valued at $10 billion in a recent funding round, four months after being valued at $1.5 billion. OpenSea hit $11 billion in sales volume in November — impressive growth, as the company had sales volume of $24 million in all of 2020 and $8 million in all of 2019.

The company could be pushing for a public listing to get ahead of or coincide with a competing NFT marketplace coming from cryptocurrency company Coinbase Global Inc COIN.

Related Link: How 2020’s Hottest IPOs Have Performed In 2021

Instacart: Grocery delivery company Instacart was expected to be one of the hottest IPOs of 2021, but the company pushed back its public listing plans, which could mean a 2022 IPO is on the table.

The company delayed its listing to focus on strengthening its services for retailers beyond deliver, according to a report from The Information. Instacart counts Uber Technologies UBER and DoorDash DASH among its key competitors. In March 2021, Instacart raised $265 million in a funding round that valued the company at $39 billion. The new funding round doubled Instacart’s valuation from an October 2020 funding round.

Panera: Despite the headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic and dining room closures, the restaurant sector was ripe with acquisitions and public debuts in 2021. Jack in the Box JACK acquiring Del Taco Restaurants TACO and Restaurant Brands International QSR acquiring Firehouse Subs were among the largest M&A deals in the sector.

Fast casual brand Portillos Inc PTLO went public in October and shares are up 90% in its first few months as a public company.

One restaurant company set to go public in 2022 is Panera. Previously a public company, Panera is expected to go public via a traditional IPO that will include SPAC USHG Acquisition HUGS as a “cornerstone partner” in the listing.

Impossible Foods: One company that has been an anticipated public listing for several years is Impossible Foods. The plant based company and rival to Beyond Meat BYND has raised over $2 billion in various funding rounds. A $500 million funding round in 2021 was the company’s first significant raise since two funding rounds in 2020 or $500 million and $200 million. Impossible Foods has expanded its product offerings and expanded into new countries. Product launches included Impossible Sausage, Impossible Chicken Nuggets and Impossible Pork. The company has products available in over 22,000 grocery stores and over 40,000 restaurants. Impossible Foods has said it will eventually go public, which could mean a 2022 IPO is likely to happen.

Databricks: One of the hottest IPOs in 2022 might be a company you’ve never heard of. Data intelligence and artificial intelligence company Databricks landed a $1.6-billion funding round in August that valued the company at $39 billion. Investors in the company include Morgan Stanley, Baillie Gifford, Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, Canada Pension Plan, T. Rowe Price, Tiger Global and Fidelity. Databricks is used by over 5,000 companies worldwide including over 40% of Fortune 500 companies. Competitor Snowflake Inc SNOW went public in September 2020 and shares are up 185% from their listing price of $120 in 15 months. Databricks has annual recurring revenue of $600 million, up from $425 million at the end of 2020.

Photo courtesy of Impossible Foods.