Hiroki Takeuchi, co-founder and CEO of GoCardless.
Zed Jameson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LISBON, Portugal — Fintech unicorns are in no rush to go public after buy-now-pay-later company Klarna filed for a U.S. IPO, but they are keeping an eye out for signs of when markets will open up again.
Last week, Klarna filed a confidential filing to list in the United States, ending months of speculation over where the Swedish digital payments company would list its shares. The timing of the IPO remains unclear, with Klarna yet to decide on pricing or the number of shares to be offered to the public.
Still, the development has sparked buzz in the fintech community, with market watchers asking whether the move signals a resurgence in large fintech IPOs. That doesn’t appear to be the case at the moment, but the founders say they will keep an eye on the IPO market, pricing and ultimately stock performance.
Hiroki Takeuchi, chief executive of online payment startup GoCardless, said last week that now is not the time for his company to fire the starting gun for an IPO. He sees going public as more of a milestone in the journey than the end goal.
“The market has been very challenging over the past few years,” Takeuchi, whose GoCardless company was recently valued at more than $2 billion, said during a panel discussion moderated by CNBC at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
“We need to focus on building a better business,” Takeuchi added, noting that if startups get it right, “the rest will follow.” GoCardless specializes in recurring payments, transactions made in a regular way from a consumer’s bank account, such as a monthly donation to a charity.
Lucy Liu, co-founder of cross-border payments company Airwallex, agreed with Takeuchi and said now is not the right time for Airwallex to go public. In a separate interview, Liu pointed out to CNBC that her Airwallex co-founder and CEO Jack Zhang had previously said that the company expected to be “ready to go public” by 2026.
“Every company is different,” Liu said on stage, sitting on the same panel as Takeuchi. She said Airwallex is more focused on becoming the best person to solve the friction of global cross-border payments.
Liu said the IPO is a goal in the company’s trajectory, but it’s not the final milestone. “We are in constant dialogue with our investor shareholders,” she said, adding that that would change “when the time comes.”
‘Stars aligned’ for fintech IPOs
One thing is for sure, though—analysts are now more optimistic about the prospects for fintech IPOs than before.
“We’ve listed the five handles that open the (IPO) window, and I think the stars are macro, interest rates, politics, the election is over, volatility,” said Navina Rajan, senior research analyst for private markets. The aspects are being consistent.
“It’s definitely a better place, but at the end of the day, we don’t know what’s going to happen, America has a new president,” Rajan continued. “It will be interesting to see the timing and valuation of the IPO.”
Fintech companies have raised about 6.2 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in venture capital from the beginning of the year to Oct. 30, according to PitchBook data.
Jaidev Janardana, CEO and co-founder of British digital bank Zopa, told CNBC that an IPO is not a top priority for his company.
“Honestly, it’s not my biggest concern,” Janardana told CNBC. “I think we remain fortunate to have long-term shareholders who are supportive of future growth.”
He hinted that the private market is still the best place to build technology companies focused on growth investments.
However, the Zopa CEO added that he sees signs of a more favorable IPO market in the coming years, with the United States potentially opening up in 2025.
Ginaldana said this should mean Europe is more open to IPOs next year. He did not say where Zopa plans to list it.
About The Author
