Outrageous Predictions
Executive Summary: Outrageous Predictions 2026
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The 2026 Mega-IPO Pipeline: AI, Fintech and Space Lead a Reopened Market
Neil Wilson
Investor Content Strategist
Note: This is marketing material. This article is not investment advice, capital is at risk.
SpaceX – Potential record-breaking float
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX is reportedly preparing a blockbuster listing that could challenge the largest IPOs in history. Investor briefings suggest the company may seek to raise $30bn, implying a valuation potentially in the $1–1.5trn range. Driven by the rapid scaling of Starlink’s broadband business and a record commercial launch pipeline – with the company accounting for half of all rocket launches last year, it’s likely to be viewed as a generational bet on the future of the space economy.
Key watchpoints: execution risk on Starship, regulatory visibility for global satellite networks, and governance dynamics around control by the ever-controversial Elon Musk.
OpenAI – The $1tn AI listing candidate
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT and a core beneficiary/trailblazer of the generative-AI boom, is expected to explore a late-2026 IPO. Valuation talk sits in the high hundreds of billions, with profitability, capital intensity and its complex governance structure central to the investor debate. Revenue growth has roughly tripled in each of the last two years, in line with its data centre capacity, delivering an annualised rate of $20bn on 2GW of capacity. With plans to scale up to 6GW, it could be looking at $60bn in annualised revenues by the end of next year, though note Microsoft indicated that OpenAI may have lost $12bn last quarter as it burns through cash.
Key watchpoints: compute costs, model-training cycles, and competitive dynamics with Google, Anthropic and Meta. The circular economy of AI deals involving OpenAI could be a risk.
Anthropic – A credible rival readying public markets
Anthropic, creator of the Claude AI models, has been preparing for a potential 2026 float, including senior hires and external legal preparation. Its revenue trajectory and cloud-partnership economics have fuelled speculation of a $200–300bn+ valuation.
Key watchpoints: pricing power in enterprise AI, regulatory oversight of safety practices, and concentration of cloud partners.
Stripe – The perennial fintech giant finally steps forward?
After years of watching markets from the sidelines, merchant payment processor Stripe is now one of the most anticipated fintech IPO candidates. Secondary-market pricing points to a $60–90bn valuation range, with investor focus on take-rate durability and the shift from SMB to large-enterprise clients. In 2024 it processed more than $1.4tn in total payments volume.
Key watchpoints: competition from Adyen/PayPal, margin normalisation, and the pace of expansion into banking-as-a-service.
Databricks – AI infrastructure at scale
Databricks sits at the centre of the enterprise data-and-AI stack, benefiting from the migration toward “lakehouse” architectures. A 2025 funding round valued the company at above $130bn, and industry expectations now centre on a 2026 debut. CEO Ali Ghodsi reckons the firm has a shot at becoming a $1tn company eventually.
Key watchpoints: enterprise spending trends, AI-related workload growth, and margin sustainability in a highly competitive data-platform market.
I looked at HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) as a potential play on the likes of Databricks and Stripe here in this article on UK investment trusts.
Canva – A mega-cap design platform coming of age
With hundreds of millions of users and rising enterprise penetration, Canva is increasingly viewed as a flagship global SaaS IPO. Recent secondary transactions at ~$40bn underscore market appetite. Venture capital firm Blackbird told its investors in late November that its flagship portfolio company would be ready for an IPO in the second half of 2026.
Key watchpoints: competitive overlap with Adobe and Figma, scalability of its AI-enhanced design tools, and monetisation beyond the prosumer segment.
Revolut – Europe’s fintech “super-app” moment
Revolut’s secondary share sale at a ~$75bn valuation, up two-thirds from its summer 2024 funding round, and progress towards full UK banking permissions have intensified speculation of a 2026 listing—potentially London’s largest tech IPO in years.
Key watchpoints: regulatory clarity, revenue mix stability (FX/trading/crypto), and competition across European banking markets.
Monzo – A major test for London’s IPO market
Monzo has accelerated its preparations for a public listing, hiring global banks and expanding its product suite. It’s also replaced CEO TS Anil with AstraZeneca board member Diana Layfield in preparation for a stock market listing. A valuation in the £6–7bn range is widely discussed, positioning it as a milestone transaction for the UK market. Morgan Stanley has been tapped up to advise on the float.
Key watchpoints: deposit growth, credit-risk management as lending scales, and structural UK banking profitability.
Kraken – Crypto exchange readies public debut
Kraken’s confidential filing and preparation for an early-2026 listing reflect a broader normalisation of the crypto-equity pipeline after Bullish, Gemini Space Station and Circle listed this year. A valuation around $20bn has been referenced in private fundraising, with the company recently raising $800mn.
Key watchpoints: regulatory developments in the US, cyclicality of crypto trading volumes, and competitive pressures from Coinbase and offshore venues.
Consensys – A Web3 infrastructure play enters the mainstream
Parent of MetaMask and the Linea L2 network, Consensys is positioning for one of the largest crypto-native IPOs to date. Its revenues are tightly linked to Ethereum activity, giving pure exposure to Web3 usage growth. It’s reportedly hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to advise on a potential IPO in 2026.
Key watchpoints: the pace of Ethereum adoption and the regulatory stance on decentralised finance.
Key Takeaways
2026 could mark the reopening of mega-cap issuance, driven by stabilising macro conditions and investor appetite for high-growth narratives, especially in AI.
AI infrastructure and fintech dominate the pipeline, reflecting where private-market capital has concentrated over the past five years.
Valuation discipline will be critical: many of these companies are entering public markets with private-round price tags that assume aggressive multi-year growth.
Regulation is a cross-cutting risk, especially for AI, fintech and crypto-adjacent names.
London’s position will be closely watched, with Revolut and Monzo providing a test of its ability to host large technology listings.
After a muted issuance environment over 2022–24, improving risk appetite, lower rate volatility and a stabilising macro backdrop have opened the door for what could be the strongest IPO year since 2021. A wave of large, late-stage private companies—many operating in AI, fintech and space infrastructure—are positioning for 2026 listings. Below we outline the most likely and most closely watched candidates, based on recent press reports, advisor hiring, secondary transactions and regulatory filings.
The IPO market lost momentum heading into the final quarter as a record-long US government shutdown put a stop to public offerings. October saw just 22 new listings, with half that number in November.
The temporary halt and backlog at the SEC, as well as the upcoming holiday period combined with elevated valuations and a relatively low volatility regime means we could be set for an explosion in IPO activity in 2026.
There are clearly risks here - with massive valuations for OpenAI and Anthropic this could either be the signal of a massive bubble and market top, or reflect insatiable investor appetite for AI names as the multi-year investment cycle is only just getting going.
So, with 2026 shaping up to be a good year for exits here's our look at some of the most keenly anticipated IPOs that could take place next year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX is reportedly preparing a blockbuster listing that could challenge the largest IPOs in history. Investor briefings suggest the company may seek to raise $30bn, implying a valuation potentially in the $1–1.5trn range. Driven by the rapid scaling of Starlink’s broadband business and a record commercial launch pipeline – with the company accounting for half of all rocket launches last year, it’s likely to be viewed as a generational bet on the future of the space economy.
Key watchpoints: execution risk on Starship, regulatory visibility for global satellite networks, and governance dynamics around control by the ever-controversial Elon Musk.
OpenAI – The $1tn AI listing candidate
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT and a core beneficiary/trailblazer of the generative-AI boom, is expected to explore a late-2026 IPO. Valuation talk sits in the high hundreds of billions, with profitability, capital intensity and its complex governance structure central to the investor debate. Revenue growth has roughly tripled in each of the last two years, in line with its data centre capacity, delivering an annualised rate of $20bn on 2GW of capacity. With plans to scale up to 6GW, it could be looking at $60bn in annualised revenues by the end of next year, though note Microsoft indicated that OpenAI may have lost $12bn last quarter as it burns through cash.
Key watchpoints: compute costs, model-training cycles, and competitive dynamics with Google, Anthropic and Meta. The circular economy of AI deals involving OpenAI could be a risk.
Anthropic – A credible rival readying public markets
Anthropic, creator of the Claude AI models, has been preparing for a potential 2026 float, including senior hires and external legal preparation. Its revenue trajectory and cloud-partnership economics have fuelled speculation of a $200–300bn+ valuation.
Key watchpoints: pricing power in enterprise AI, regulatory oversight of safety practices, and concentration of cloud partners.
Stripe – The perennial fintech giant finally steps forward?
After years of watching markets from the sidelines, merchant payment processor Stripe is now one of the most anticipated fintech IPO candidates. Secondary-market pricing points to a $60–90bn valuation range, with investor focus on take-rate durability and the shift from SMB to large-enterprise clients. In 2024 it processed more than $1.4tn in total payments volume.
Key watchpoints: competition from Adyen/PayPal, margin normalisation, and the pace of expansion into banking-as-a-service.
Databricks – AI infrastructure at scale
Databricks sits at the centre of the enterprise data-and-AI stack, benefiting from the migration toward “lakehouse” architectures. A 2025 funding round valued the company at above $130bn, and industry expectations now centre on a 2026 debut. CEO Ali Ghodsi reckons the firm has a shot at becoming a $1tn company eventually.
Key watchpoints: enterprise spending trends, AI-related workload growth, and margin sustainability in a highly competitive data-platform market.
I looked at HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) as a potential play on the likes of Databricks and Stripe here in this article on UK investment trusts.
Canva – A mega-cap design platform coming of age
With hundreds of millions of users and rising enterprise penetration, Canva is increasingly viewed as a flagship global SaaS IPO. Recent secondary transactions at ~$40bn underscore market appetite. Venture capital firm Blackbird told its investors in late November that its flagship portfolio company would be ready for an IPO in the second half of 2026.
Key watchpoints: competitive overlap with Adobe and Figma, scalability of its AI-enhanced design tools, and monetisation beyond the prosumer segment.
Revolut – Europe’s fintech “super-app” moment
Revolut’s secondary share sale at a ~$75bn valuation, up two-thirds from its summer 2024 funding round, and progress towards full UK banking permissions have intensified speculation of a 2026 listing—potentially London’s largest tech IPO in years.
Key watchpoints: regulatory clarity, revenue mix stability (FX/trading/crypto), and competition across European banking markets.
Monzo – A major test for London’s IPO market
Monzo has accelerated its preparations for a public listing, hiring global banks and expanding its product suite. It’s also replaced CEO TS Anil with AstraZeneca board member Diana Layfield in preparation for a stock market listing. A valuation in the £6–7bn range is widely discussed, positioning it as a milestone transaction for the UK market. Morgan Stanley has been tapped up to advise on the float.
Key watchpoints: deposit growth, credit-risk management as lending scales, and structural UK banking profitability.
Kraken – Crypto exchange readies public debut
Kraken’s confidential filing and preparation for an early-2026 listing reflect a broader normalisation of the crypto-equity pipeline after Bullish, Gemini Space Station and Circle listed this year. A valuation around $20bn has been referenced in private fundraising, with the company recently raising $800mn.
Key watchpoints: regulatory developments in the US, cyclicality of crypto trading volumes, and competitive pressures from Coinbase and offshore venues.
Consensys – A Web3 infrastructure play enters the mainstream
Parent of MetaMask and the Linea L2 network, Consensys is positioning for one of the largest crypto-native IPOs to date. Its revenues are tightly linked to Ethereum activity, giving pure exposure to Web3 usage growth. It’s reportedly hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to advise on a potential IPO in 2026.
Key watchpoints: the pace of Ethereum adoption and the regulatory stance on decentralised finance.
Key Takeaways
2026 could mark the reopening of mega-cap issuance, driven by stabilising macro conditions and investor appetite for high-growth narratives, especially in AI.
AI infrastructure and fintech dominate the pipeline, reflecting where private-market capital has concentrated over the past five years.
Valuation discipline will be critical: many of these companies are entering public markets with private-round price tags that assume aggressive multi-year growth.
Regulation is a cross-cutting risk, especially for AI, fintech and crypto-adjacent names.
London’s position will be closely watched, with Revolut and Monzo providing a test of its ability to host large technology listings.
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