The analysts and economists are finally reporting good news in the world of tech in general, and fintech specifically, thanks to a recent surge in IPO activity. For several years, this is a sector that has remained relatively flat with investor confidence either stagnant or gradually declining, with some even predicting a slowly depressing bubble. The good news is that these fears have been allayed in the first half of 2025. 

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Who Has Gone Public? 

The likes of CoreWeave, BitGo, Avalara, and Figma have all recently joined the growing list of companies who have gone public or plan to do so. These four businesses, while operating in diverse areas, are united by a common thread: innovation-driven services. The markets have noticed this and are continuing to climb in a whole host of other high-tech sectors, such as AI, fintech, and services built on blockchain technology. 

Why the Sudden Change? 

Some will say simply that these things always come in cycles, but that is an oversimplification. Tech businesses often have high barriers to entry and prohibitive startup costs, followed by an extended period of large losses or breaking even despite massive revenues and future forecasts. For an IPO to be successful in such a case, three key things need to be aligned:  

  • Economic conditions need to be such that they are driving growth in many other industries so that there are more jobs and more liquid capital. 
  • Inflation needs to be stable and predictable to ensure that the value of money is properly understood and the cost of borrowing is reasonable. 
  • Regulation needs to be predictable so that longer-term positions can be opened without fear of them being turned into dead ends by administrators and governments. 

All of this is good news for tech, especially fintech, because it has the potential to open doors and bring in outside investment. Once this reaches a point of critical mass and sufficient scale, a lucrative IPO becomes much more likely.  

The Figma IPO

Figma is a cloud-based design business that competes with the likes of Canva when users want to bring their visions and ideas to life. They are targeting a valuation of nearly $14 billion and are aiming to raise $1 billion. This is all off the back of a 46% jump in revenue in the first half of 2025. And because revenue is vanity but profit is sanity, analysts will be pleased to know they have tripled their net income during the same period. 

BitGo Files 

BitGo is an innovative provider of crypto custody services that traders could use in conjunction with a cryptocurrency trading platform when they want to hold their digital assets. The fascinating thing here is that the cryptocurrency market has just surged beyond the $4 trillion mark, largely off the back of increased regulatory clarity and the start of institutional adoption. This is a prominent example of a fintech business riding the wave from the wider tech sector when it’s time to raise money. 

Avalara Switches Tracks 

Alvara is an automated tax platform that was taken private in 2022. Because of the surge of the innovation-driven markets, they are now looking to return to their earlier public position. They have become known for providing highly scalable tax compliance solutions within a SaaS framework. Global brands who have moved to their platform include Reebok and Adidas, both of whom cite Avalara’s ability to streamline their operations as the key reason for their move. 

CoreWeave Raises $1.5 Billion 

The CoreWeave IPO occurred earlier this year and raised $1.5 billion as a result of strong market belief in its cloud infrastructure services. In an age where everything from a streaming service and an e-commerce store to a forex trading brokerage and an online grocery service uses the cloud, owning a piece of the underlying infrastructure is already big business. The return of belief in tech markets will drive the continued expansion of the cloud at the same time as providing more opportunities for sectors that rely on it, such as fintech and AI. 

Fintech Needs Active Investors 

Fintech startups backed by VCs have brought in more than $22 billion in the first half of this year; up 5.3% on last year and up 11.1% on the previous six months. While this may not be back to the pre-pandemic highs of 2018, it is a strong indication that investors are buoyed by the general upturn across many areas of the tech market. The result has been greater trading and investment activity in fintech businesses as prominent funds look to adopt long-term positions. 

Fintech is an industry that lives and dies by the confidence of its investors, as they are the ones who are able to inject the capital that keeps the industry moving until it becomes self-sustaining. Deregulation, a pro-business White House in the US, and the dampening down of the economic shockwaves after Brexit are all things that can help the fintech sector continue its recovery. 

Fintech: 2025 and Beyond 

Go back to the previous decade, and fintech was one of the hottest topics at every economic forum or investor conference, but then things changed. After the pandemic, loans and government subsidies had to be repaid, investors focused on shorter-term ventures, and confidence in fintech was gradually eroded. 

Rather than a bubble that suddenly bursts, what many analysts described seeing was a market that was slowly but continually deflating. All momentum seemed to be lost. Then the first two quarters of 2025 gave it the shot in the arm it very much needed. 

The return of confidence in the tech industry brought with it a renewal in interest in fintech. Companies that needed large amounts of startup and operating capital before turning high revenues into even meagre profits were again popular choices for investors. 

It will be fascinating to see how the IPOs listed above perform, as well as which fintech startups decide to get in on the act and raise money with a public offering. All the signs are that fintech is very much heading back to its highs of 2018. 

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