A Busy Stretch for the IPO Pipeline
Despite ongoing volatility in public markets, the IPO pipeline keeps moving. Three separate filings — spanning biotech, consumer fintech, and a ByteDance-linked tech company — are each targeting valuations in the billions of dollars. Windward Bio, DayOne, and Zilch each represent a different corner of the market, but together they suggest that issuers and their bankers still see a window open for large, well-capitalized companies to go public.
Here's a look at each deal and what it could mean for investors tracking the next wave of listings.
Windward Bio: Novo-Backed Biotech Targets $1 Billion
Windward Bio, a biotechnology company backed by Novo Holdings (the investment arm connected to Novo Nordisk), is reportedly targeting a $1 billion valuation as it moves toward a US IPO. Novo-backed companies tend to draw significant investor interest given the firm's track record in drug development and its deep pockets, and that pedigree alone could help Windward Bio stand out in a biotech IPO market that has been selective over the past couple of years.
Biotech IPOs have had a mixed run recently — strong investor appetite for companies with validated science and later-stage pipelines, but a tougher reception for earlier-stage names without clear near-term catalysts. A $1 billion valuation target suggests Windward Bio's backers believe the company has reached a stage where public investors will be comfortable underwriting its growth story, whether that's built on a specific drug candidate, platform technology, or partnership structure.
For investors who track biotech listings, the key things to watch as more detail emerges will be the company's pipeline stage, cash runway, and how much of the Novo relationship translates into formal backing (board seats, continued investment, licensing deals) versus simply reputational halo.
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DayOne: ByteDance Ties and a $20 Billion Valuation Target
DayOne is heading toward a US IPO with a valuation reportedly seen around $20 billion — a figure that would make it one of the larger tech listings in recent memory if it holds. Reporting indicates ByteDance-linked revenue makes up a notable share of DayOne's business, underscoring how intertwined some newer IPO candidates are with China's biggest tech platforms, even as they pursue listings on US exchanges.
A $20 billion valuation target puts DayOne in a different league than most of the names currently moving through the IPO pipeline. Deals at this scale tend to draw outsized attention from institutional investors, generate extensive media coverage, and often serve as a bellwether for how receptive public markets are to large, growth-oriented tech listings more broadly. If DayOne prices successfully near that level, it could encourage other large, privately-held tech companies that have been sitting on the sidelines to accelerate their own IPO timelines.
At the same time, investors will want to understand revenue concentration risk — when a large share of revenue is tied to a single partner or platform relationship, that dependency becomes a key risk factor worth scrutinizing in the eventual prospectus.
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Zilch: UK Buy-Now-Pay-later Firm Eyes $2 Billion
On the fintech side, UK-based buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) company Zilch is reportedly working toward an IPO at a valuation around $2 billion, with its leadership expressing confidence in that target. BNPL has been one of the more scrutinized corners of consumer fintech over the past few years, as regulators in the UK and elsewhere have moved to bring the sector under tighter oversight and as rising interest rates pressured the economics of short-term consumer lending.
A successful Zilch listing at a $2 billion valuation would be a notable data point for the BNPL sector, which has seen its public and private valuations fluctuate considerably since the highs of 2021. It would also add to a growing list of UK and European fintech companies testing public markets, at a time when London and other European exchanges have been competing to retain high-profile domestic listings rather than losing them to US markets.
Investors watching this one should pay attention to where Zilch ultimately chooses to list, its path to profitability, and how regulatory developments in UK consumer credit could affect its growth outlook post-IPO.
Track the Zilch IPO →
What These Three Filings Have in Common
On the surface, a Novo-backed biotech, a ByteDance-linked tech platform, and a UK BNPL lender don't have much in common. But their simultaneous progress toward IPOs — each targeting a valuation of $1 billion or more — points to a few broader trends worth noting:
- Big valuations are still achievable. All three companies are targeting valuations well into the billions, suggesting bankers and company leadership believe there's sufficient investor demand at scale, not just for smaller, more conservative offerings.
- Sector diversity in the pipeline. Biotech, consumer tech, and fintech are all represented, which is a healthier sign for the IPO market overall than if all the activity were concentrated in a single sector.
- Geographic breadth. With Zilch based in the UK and DayOne tied to a Chinese tech ecosystem while both pursue listings connected to international capital markets, these deals also highlight how global the IPO pipeline has become, even as US exchanges remain a top destination.
- Investor selectivity remains high. Despite these ambitious targets, broader market jitters mean none of these valuations are guaranteed to hold through pricing. Final valuations often shift — up or down — based on roadshow reception and broader market conditions at the time of pricing.
How to Follow These Deals
All three of these companies are still in the filing and pre-IPO stage, meaning timelines, final valuations, and exchange listings could change before any of them actually go public. For investors who want to stay ahead of these developments, keeping an eye on official filings as they're made public is the most reliable way to track progress.
You can follow all newly filed offerings on our recently filed tracker, compare them against companies that have already completed their IPOs on our recent IPOs page, or browse the full IPO tracker for a broader view of what's moving through the pipeline right now.
For sector-specific tracking, you can also explore biotechnology IPOs to keep tabs on companies like Windward Bio, or financial-technology IPOs to follow Zilch and other fintech names working toward public listings.
As always, a valuation target in a filing is not the same as a final IPO price — markets, investor sentiment, and company performance between now and pricing day can all shift the outcome. But with three sizable deals advancing at once, the IPO pipeline is clearly still active, even amid a cautious broader market backdrop.