The once high-flying fintech startups looking to go public will have a hard time attracting investor attention, even though a freeze that has gripped the market for new listings is starting to thaw.
As investor confidence improves, more companies are expected to reignite their IPO plans this year, but fintech firms may opt out of the race as they face a string of worries, including rising cash-burn rate, mounting losses and poor share performance of some of their listed peers. But with interest rates at their highest levels since the global financial crisis, apps with huge exposure to subprime borrowers have attracted investor scrutiny, making it tough for such startups to justify higher valuations.
In the IPO boom of 2021, 20 fintech companies raised a combined $10.93 billion, vastly overshadowing the $144 million that was raised by a lone offering in the following year, according to data from Dealogic. Coinbase, which was valued at $86 billion in its Nasdaq debut in April 2021, now has a market capitalization of about $15 billion.