IPOs May Mark 2017 Unicorns

Will 2017 mark a steady drum of hoofprints from unicorns coming public? 2016 is already in the rearview mirror, with a somnolent showing, as the 105 IPOs seen last year (not all of them unicorns, of course) were down nearly 40 percent from 2015’s levels. The proceeds were down in lockstep, on a percentage basis, with $19 billion.

But some resurgence may be in the offing. In a hint of private to public listing moves, the financial trade press reported this past week that MuleSoft, a B2B tech outfit, could file to go public this year, having hired bankers to manage an offering. The company refused to comment on such activity but has been mentioned in past weeks as a candidate to go public.

Separately, this past week, Forbes reported that there could be several unicorn-centric IPOs through the next year and beyond, with one leader, or even impetus in such activity coming via Snap. Among the names floated by the financial publication: Blue Apron (which has been rumored, on again, and off again, to be an IPO candidate); AppDynamics, which has already filed; Pluralsights; Qualtrics and Okta, an identity software firm.

Elsewhere in IPO news, Garena, which is billed as one of the most valuable startups in southeast Asia, with a focus on gaming and eCommerce, is looking at listing in the United States, in an offering that may fetch $1 billion, Bloomberg reported. The firm has hired Goldman to move toward an IPO this year, said the newswire.

Separately, Indian eCommerce site FlipKart continues to reshuffle management at the highest levels, with its third new CEO in the past 12 months, along with continued focus on doing battle with Amazon India. Kalyan Krishnamurthy has been named the new chief of the company and replaces Binny Bansal. Bansal, meanwhile, is helming the new Group CEO, a role freshly created.