Report: Reddit IPO Could Launch in March

Reddit is reportedly ready to go public via an initial public offering (IPO).

The social media platform aims to go public in March after more than three years of planning, Reuters reported Thursday (Jan. 18), citing sources familiar with the matter.

The report noted that the IPO would make Reddit the first social media company to go public since Pinterest listed in 2019, and would come as Reddit faces heavy competition for ad revenue from platforms like Facebook and TikTok.

The sources said Reddit plans to make a public filing in late February, and begin its investor roadshow in early March before completing its IPO later that month. According to the sources, Reddit — valued at $10 billion following a 2021 funding round — aims to sell about 10% of its shares in the IPO, and will decide on an IPO valuation target closer to the listing.

Reddit filed confidentially to go public in 2021, though the “listing was subsequently postponed due to the absence of profitability at that time,” PYMNTS wrote in November when reports of a possible IPO reemerged.

Founded 19 years ago, Reddit is among the most popular social platforms, and became a household name when it made headlines as one of its subreddits, WallStreetBets, played a key role in birthing a category of stock market investing called meme stocks.

As Reuters noted, it’s for that reason that an IPO could test the willingness of some Reddit users to back the company’s stock market listing.

Reddit’s IPO plans come as a number of other high-profile companies are also preparing to go public. For example, Stablecoin issuer Circle recently filed paperwork for an IPO with the SEC.

The digital asset company had initially planned to go public in 2022 via a $9 billion special purpose acquisition company merger, though that plan was halted over a holdup in the SEC’s approval of its S-4 registration document.

Meanwhile, fast fashion brand Shein is seeking permission from regulators in China to go public in the U.S., a process that could delay the company’s IPO plans. 

The company’s listing plans are also expected to face heightened scrutiny from American regulators, especially in an election year, despite efforts by the Singapore-based Shein to distance itself from China.