The Top Five Tech Companies Likely To File For IPO In 2017: What Investors Can Expect

Many tech companies held back from going public in 2016, but a new report from CB Insights suggest 2017 might be the year initial public offerings (IPOs) may be back in favor with the fastest growing technology businesses.

The Tech IPO Pipeline Report from CB Insights, now in its fifth year of examining the tech industry, analyzed the top 369 technology companies in the United States that are primed to file for IPO in the coming year.

According to the finding, 2017 will see an uptick in companies going public following a significant drop in 2016, when only 14 companies filed for IPO compared to 28 in 2015 and 62 in 2014.

“2016 did not turn out to see a flurry of tech IPOs as companies continued to access funding privately,” the report said. “But as companies in the pipeline continue to mature, increased calls by investors for companies to go public, and a slowing down of deep pocketed investors like mutual funds and hedge funds financing late-stage startups, the drumbeat for a busier 2017 IPO pipeline is getting louder.”

According to CB Insights, there are five companies that top the list of most primed to reach IPO status next year. The top five include Qualtrics, a research and survey company; meal delivery service Blue Apron; cloud-based enterprise company Zuora; identity management and security firm Okta; and online education platform Pluralsight.

The companies that top CB Insights’ list aren’t necessarily household names; Blue Apron is the most consumer-facing of the potential IPOs. The analysis also included notable businesses like news site Vice, real estate listings company Redfin, and financial management platform Credit Karma, among others.

Perhaps most surprising is the absence of Snapchat in the top five despite being included in the overall Pipeline Report. The photo and video sharing service has been rumored to have already confidentially filed for IPO under the name of parent company Snap. The IPO is expected to be valued at as much as $25 billion.

Snapchat falls into the “unicorn” category according to the report, which includes companies that have raised money at a valuation of $1 billion or more. Keeping Snapchat company in the category are 88 other companies—up from 80 in 2016—including Uber, Airbnb, BuzzFeed, and Slack.