Social media valuation at public market entrance 2024

The largest social media IPO seen in the last 15 years was Facebook, which went public in May 2012 with a valuation of 104 billion U.S. dollars. Snapchat ranked second, with a valuation of 24 billion U.S. dollars in March 2017. Twitter – later known as X after its 2023 acquisition and subsequent delisting – went public in with a valuation of 18 billion U.S. dollars. Former U.S president Trump's social media app Truth Social went public on March 26, 2024, after merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Digital IPOs in the U.S.

The year 2021 was characterized by the highest number of IPOs recorded in the U.S. since 2000, with over a thousand companies entering the public market. During the first years of the COVD-19 pandemic, the digital and tech sectors enjoyed stellar development thanks to the increase in usage and inflated adoption trends of digital solutions among global users. In comparison, 2022 was characterized by an unusually quiet public market. Snap Inc and Meta, as well as other social media platforms, reported a loss in expected revenue driven by a slowing advertising spending trend.

While social video and streaming platform Rumble filed to go public via SPAC merger in September 2022, market volatility dragged IPO plans for others. At the end of 2023, the market appeared to be in recovery for digital companies. Fast-fashion brand Shein entered the U.S. public market in September, followed by Instacart in November.

Reddit’s IPO

Reddit's entrance into the public market is expected to be the largest social media IPO since 2019, when Pinterest became a public company with a valuation of 10 billion U.S. dollars. Reddit, which is expected to go public in March 2024, is reportedly seeking a valuation of 6.5 million U.S. dollars. The company had previously reached a valuation of 10 billion U.S. dollars, after securing 410 million U.S. dollars in its Series F funding in August 2021. In February 2024, Reddit gave potential investors a peek into its financials, by releasing the company’s S1 registration statement: the company was not yet profitable in 2023, with a negative EBITDA of 70 billion U.S. dollars. Despite not having released a planned price for its stocks, Reddit invited some of its users to pre-register and grab the possibility of buying into Reddit.