Coinbase, Robinhood, Rivian, UiPath, Marqeta, and Toast are down 65%+ from their IPO; over half of 53 tech companies that went public in 2021 are down 50%+
Ari Levy / CNBC :
Context & Ripple Effects
The 2021 vintage was the largest US tech IPO class in years — 53 companies — and it priced at the top of a frothy market. The damage since has been broad and deep: Coinbase alone has seen its stock fall roughly 80% in 2022, shrinking its market cap from $81B at its IPO to around $11B as crypto sold off, after an earlier stretch where it was already down ~40% year-to-date alongside Marathon Digital and Riot Blockchain.
This is not the first time a hot class has come back to earth — half of the 28 tech companies that went public in 2015 also traded below their IPO price within months — but the scale is different. The follow-on data confirms the window closed behind them: US tech IPO proceeds collapsed 94% in 2022 per Ernst & Young, with no deal reaching $1B versus fifteen the year before.
First-order effects
- Investors in the 2021 class are sitting on severe losses — over half of the 53 companies are down 50%+, and Coinbase, Robinhood, Rivian, UiPath, Marqeta and Toast are all down 65%+ — wiping out much of the value created at listing.
- Employees at these six companies holding equity compensation face deeply underwater options, directly weakening the retention tool that high-valuation IPOs were meant to provide.
Second-order effects
- The IPO market itself has shut as a consequence: with the 2021 class trading so far below offer prices, no US tech IPO raised $1B in 2022 and deal proceeds fell to $8.6B, forcing late-stage startups to stay private or raise on harder terms.
- Public-market investors gain leverage over the next wave of listings — the 2021 repricing sets a lower anchor for what growth-stage tech can command, pressuring bankers and issuers to cut valuations and dilution expectations.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the industry reverts to a longer private runway: companies delay going public until profitability is demonstrable, reversing the 2021 model of listing on revenue growth alone.
- The episode joins the 2015 cohort as evidence that IPO-class performance is cyclical rather than permanent — a recurring argument for stricter listing standards and for employees treating equity as risk capital rather than guaranteed wealth.
The trend: Tech is moving from exit-at-any-price public offerings back to a discipline regime, where the 2021 class's collapse and the 94% drop in IPO proceeds reset who can list, when, and at what valuation.