It was a crowded year for companies entering public markets, with 980 businesses going public in 2021—more than double the number that did so in 2020. This showcases the strength of the global economy’s most successful debuts.
The growth of Asian business is continuing despite a challenging regulatory environment. Global investors continue to invest in companies that deliver products at increasing speeds to their customers. Businesses that develop technologies to combat the climate crisis—like electric vehicles and renewable energy—and to capture the attention of consumers—like social media—have captivated global markets.
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Companies that made it to the top of stock markets were innovative, but many lack diversity in their leadership. In 2021, the majority of top 10 IPOs were large and all their chief executives were male. Bumble, a dating app that ranked high in the 15th place, was the first woman-led IPO.
To better understand the shifting market priorities in 2021, these were the top 10 IPOs of the year—using data provided by financial analysis firm Dealogic—ranked in order of size.
Rivian
Rivian’s Wall Street debut as an electric vehicle manufacturer was timely. While countries raced to sign emission-cutting pledges during the UN climate conference in November, the environmentally-conscious company raised over $13.7 billion, making it one of the biggest U.S. IPOs in history.
Rivian was founded by RJ Scaringe in 2009. It began to sell vehicles in 2021. The company’s original target was the sports car market, but it pivoted to electric pickup trucks and SUVs when Scaringe realized the widespread appetite for sustainable models. Rivian’s first product, an all-electric pickup truck R1T, was launched in September. It retails at $67,000..
Tesla was created to combat the rising popularity of another electric vehicle manufacturer. Rivian was awarded the support of FordIt holds a 12% share. Jeff Bezos (ex-CEO of Amazon) announced his resignation in 2019. The e-commerce firm had placed an order for 100,000 Rivian electric delivery vansTo help Amazon reach its 2040 goal of zero carbon emissions, Amazon is Rivian’s largest shareholder with a 20% stake.
Scaringe sees the company increasing production to 1,000,000 units per year in 2030 due to the growing global demand for sustainable transport.
Learn more Rivian announces plans to build a new $5 billion factory in Georgia amid scaling challenges
Kuaishou Technology
Kuaishou was raised by ByteDance’s biggest competitor, video sharing site ByteDance.$6.23 billionn was the biggest IPO of the tech sector since Uber raised over $8 billion in 2019 in Hong Kong.
Cheng Yixiao, the company’s chief of product, founded Kuaishou in 2011 as a tool to create GIFs on smartphones. The company later pivoted toward short videos, with the tagline: “Capture the World, Share Your Story”. Su Hua (CEO) revealed Kuaishou’s wealth in June. There are more than 1,000,000 monthly active users.
The video sharing site, like other content creator websites such as OnlyFans allows users to leave tips for content creators. Kuaishou gets a portion of the tip. According to the FT, tips contributed 62% of Kuaishou’s revenue in the first nine months of 2020. It also functions as an e-commerce platform that allows creators to market their products live to customers.
Following its IPO and a valuation exceeding $160 Billion, investors became scared State regulation has been tightenedIt was intended to deter inappropriate explicit content and saw shares drop in value. Kuaishou declared it in August. Stopping planned expansion into the U.S.In October, Hua moved back From the daily running of company. The company’s share prices are currently 26% lower than their IPO valuation.
Coupang Inc.
Dubbed “the Amazon of South Korea,” e-commerce platform Coupang raised $4.6 billion in its Wall Street IPO in March. This was the company’s first day trading. A market capitalization of over $84 billion, making it the largest U.S. debut for an international company since Alibaba’s listing in 2014.
According to FT, Coupang allocated shares to less than 100 investor accounts—which include SoftBank, BlackRock, and Fidelity—a small number for an IPO of its size.
Bom, who was a Harvard Business School dropout and founded Seoul’s company in 2010, In just ten years Coupang has grown to South Korea’s Online retailer with the largest selection.
Coupang has become synonymous with convenience, thanks to its efficient supply chain and short shipping times. Coupang claims 70% Koreans are within 10 minutes driving distance of its logistics centers. According to the company, more than 99% orders placed through its website are delivered in less than one day.
Since the blockbuster IPO, it hasn’t all been clear sailing for the company. Coupang came under consumer boycotts after it announced its June IPO. Handling a FireIt resulted in the death of one individual and destruction of its main logistics centre. It also caused the destruction of its largest logistics center. Another worker died earlier in this yearConcerns arose about the company’s fast delivery times and disregard for workplace safety. The company was also confronted with Investigators investigate alleged algorithmic biasFavoriting its products.
DiDi Global Inc.
It’s been a bumpy ride for China’s cab hailing app, DiDi. Just weeks before its Wall Street debut in June, China’s market regulator launched an Antitrust ProbeAs part of the crackdown against large corporations like Tencent and Alibaba, the company was forced to accept them into its ranks.
DiDi managed to secure a $4.4 billion raise on the New York Stock Exchange, which gave it an estimated $73 billion value.
Learn more DiDi Chuxing Was Named One of TIME100’s 2021 Most Influential Companies
Nevertheless, just days later regulators opened another inquiry, this one into DiDi’s use of customers’ personal data. The probe resulted in the ban of the app from listing on Chinese apps stores or registering new users. Its stocks plummeted, and the company was forced to tell investors it was unaware of regulators’ plans ahead of its IPO.
DiDi suffered another setback, this one in the U.S., on December 2, The SEC Rules finalized to make US-listed foreign businesses liable to being delistedIf auditors fail to comply with regulators’ requests, they can be fined. After Chinese regulators refused to examine the accounts of Chinese companies listed on Wall Street, this law was created in 2020.
Six days later DiDi made the announcement that it was going to Remove shares from the NYSEIt will then be listed in Hong Kong. Since its Wall Street debut, the company’s shares have lost more than 40% of their value.
InPost S.A.
Polish package locker provider was Europe’s biggest IPO since 2018, with the company raising $3.9 billion in January on Amsterdam’s stock exchange. The listing was so popular that InPost was forced to shorten the offer period due to what it called “significant investor demand”.
InPost, which was launched in 2006 and later acquired by Advent in 2017, is an alternative for traditional courier services. Deliveries are sent to one of the company’s vast network of automated lockers—which InPost dubs “automatic parcel machines”—allowing customers to collect at their leisure, 24 hours a day.
Poland 49% already lives within a 7-minute walk of one of InPost’s lockers and its app has over 7 million users. InPost operates important markets in Italy, the U.K., and Italy.
Amid COVID-19 stay at home orders at the start of the year, the market was primed for InPost’s expansion. The IPO has been a success. French counterpart was acquired by the companyMondial Relay supports European growth.
Krafton Inc.
South Korean online game developer, Krafton, made its public debut in July, marking Korea’s highest IPO of 2021. It is a company that approximately all of their salesFrom hit game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG),With the offer, $3.8 billion was raised.
Entrepreneur Chang Byung-gyu founded Krafton—then Bluehold—in 2007. Krafton was made a unicorn by a $500m investment by Tencent Holdings (owner of Chinese messaging app WeChat) in 2018.
Krafton’s IPO performance was disappointing despite its large size. The company started by being Ordered to reduce its offerAccording to the Korean financial watchdog (KFW), the amount was more than $870million, amid worries about the potential stock market bubble. Then, after its debut, Krafton’s shares dropped. Mostly to blame were concerns about the company’s reliance on PUBG for its revenue, and a China proposes crackdown online gaming, one of the company’s biggest markets.
Krafton is determined to overcome any setbacks. Extend its entertainment optionsInteractive content and animated movies will be added to the PUBG Fantasy Universe. The company was backed earlier this month. Tamatem, a Jordanian mobile gaming publisher, has just launched in a $11 million funding round, as part of Krafton’s expansion into the Middle East and North Africa.
JD Logistics Inc.
JD.com enjoyed an enviable supply chain-delivery spinoff. Hong Kong raises $3.6 Billion for its debut.
Founded in 2007 as an integrated supply chain provider, JD Logistics helped to solidify its parent company’s leading position in the online retail market. JD Logistics delivers 95% of JD.com parcels the very next day or within 24 hours.It is now aiming to expand its third-party capabilities.
While the logistics provider benefitted from the COVID-19 online shopping boom, its stock market debut—which came amid increased scrutiny of the tech sector in China—fell short of expectations. The shortfall was attributed to analysts to the company’s increased investment in infrastructure. This company is working to lower its labor cost. The use of AI/robotsTo automate the packing process
China Three Gorges Renewables Group
Amid strong investor appetite for green energy assets, the renewables arm of China’s state-run power company raised $3.5 billion in its Shanghai debut in May. Its parent, China Three Gorges Corp (CTG), is the world’s largest hydropower company, famous for the hydropower dam On the Yangtze River.
CTG claimed that proceeds from the offer would be used for charity Offshore wind power projects can be fundedBeijing is looking for alternatives to costly coal power. This unit is the first to launch its renewables unit. Floating offshore wind power platformIn June off the coast Zhejiang Province in South-eastern China. CTG Renewables’ plans to grow non-hydro renewables are set to be crucial in the race to reach net zero (China reported Record-breaking coal production and only committing to “phasing down” coal at the UN climate conference, COP26).
GlobalFoundries Inc.
GlobalFoundries was a semiconductor company that made its Wall Street debut due to an unusual circumstance: A global shortage of its own products. Only days following its October IPO raising $2.9 billion, the company made its Wall Street debut. CNBC spoke with Tom Caulfield about his chief executive position. that GlobalFoundries’ chip capacity was sold out through the end of 2023.
Microchip shortages have affected manufacturers of smartphones, cars and other home appliances. Apple had to reduce its iPhone 13 production targetBy as much as 10,000,000 units by 2021
Learn more From Cars to Toasters, America’s Semiconductor Shortage Is Wreaking Havoc on Our Lives. How can we fix it?
GlobalFoundries was created from Advanced Micro Devices’ 2009 spin-off. Revenues up by 13% The demand for chips rose in the first six months of this year. Despite global supply chain issues exacerbated by the pandemic, and what the CEO called an “Underinvestment” in semiconductor technology, GlobalFoundries has Records-breaking deals reached with BMW.
Volvo
Chinese-owned, Swedish-headquartered car manufacturer Volvo listed on the Stockholm stock exchange in October after a previous cancelled attempt in 2018. Despite raising $2.7 billion, The IPO was rescinded on initial projections—owner Zhejiang Geely was forced to convert its vote-heavy shares into normal stock after protests from potential Swedish investors.
The increased desire among investors for electric vehicles, which only make up 3% of Volvo’s sales, possibly played a role in the modest valuation. Chief executive Hakan Samuelsson, FT that to boost funding Volvo needed “to be credible in telling investors we’re on our way to being 100% electric”.
Company will use IPO proceeds. Double your annual vehicle sales up to 1.2 MillionIt plans to be fully electric by 2025. By the end of this decade, it plans to only sell fully-electric vehicles.
