Move Over, SpaceX: Popular Companies from Lime to Oura Line Up for Market Debuts

The IPO market is looking more like a full constellation of stars than a race to the moon. 

Elon Musk’s rocket company is teed up for the largest IPO ever when it hits the market at the end of this week. But while headlines about SpaceX and artificial intelligence lab Anthropic, which also recently filed to go public, are inescapable, those mega-unicorns aren’t the only IPOs in town. After a dry spell amid high interest rates, inflation uncertainty and lingering effects of the post-pandemic tech boom, the first quarter of this year saw 35 IPOs raise $9.9 billion, according to Renaissance Capital. It was the best start to a year since 2021. 

“We’re not fully back in the swing of things, but a strong debut from SpaceX would help us get there,” Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, told The Daily Upside. “In the past two months, pockets of enthusiasm have spread from a few sectors to growth stocks more broadly.” 

IPOs Are Back

Blackstone-backed Liftoff Mobile marked the first software IPO of the year last week and, alongside Quantinuum, it doubled the number of sizable tech IPOs in 2026 from two to four, Kennedy said. While the market still hasn’t fully normalized in terms of issuance, it’s well on its way. The clock is ticking for Anthropic, and investors should buckle up for another SpaceX-like frenzy after OpenAI files to go public, which is expected soon. 

Kennedy says his firm often advises clients to pay attention to the less prominent IPOs, such as the gas engine maker Innio, which hit the market last week, and energy company ERock, slated to go public this week. He also says retail investors should spread out their excitement, building a position over time rather than getting caught up in the first-day frenzy.

But if you’re looking forward to seeing some recognizable names get tickers, buckle up: 

• Electric scooter rental company Lime filed to go public last month, and health-tracking company Oura and fitness app provider Strava are preparing to debut as well. Inspire Brands — which owns a slew of popular food brands including Dunkin’, Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, and Jimmy John’s — confidentially filed for an IPO last month, too. 
• With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at all-time highs and the Dow having crossed the 50,000 threshold, “it’s a good time to IPO,” said Ray Wang, founder of Constellation Research. He points to defense tech startup Anduril, data security company Cohesity and revenue intelligence firm Gong as some to watch. 

Crowded Market: Not everyone is ready to ring the bell with so many companies scrambling for IPO attention. “We will be a public company. I just think this is a terrible year to go public,” Ali Ghodsi, CEO of data software company Databricks, told Bloomberg on Thursday.