Greetings, Term Sheeters. This is finance reporter Luisa Beltran, subbing for Allie.
After Circle’s standout IPO performance last week, all eyes are turning to Chime Financial. The well-known neobank is scheduled to begin trading on Thursday and could benefit from a rush of IPO excitement.
The company is selling 32 million shares at a price range of $24 to $26, with the final price for the offering to be set on Wednesday. Nearly 26 million of the shares being sold are coming from the company itself, while the rest will come from selling stockholders. Chime will trade Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker CHYM.
Founded in 2012, Chime offers traditional financial services, like fee-free checking and savings accounts, to lower income U.S. consumers who earn up to $100,000 a year. The Chime IPO appears to be oversubscribed and has seen investor demand exceeding the number of shares available by more than 10 times, according to Seeking Alpha, which cited a Bloomberg report.
After crawling for more than three years, the IPO market is finally experiencing a rebound, though it’s unclear whether that will last. Several companies, including eToro Group, Hinge Health, and MNTN, posted strong debuts in May and each has since remained above its IPO price. The best performance by a newly public company so far this year belongs to AI infrastructure company CoreWeave, despite a less than ideal start. CoreWeave went public in late March, around the time when President Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs, which caused many IPOs and deals to be put on hold. CoreWeave turned in a lackluster first day, with shares closing one penny above its $40 IPO price. Its stock rose in April and really began to gain steam in May. As of late Tuesday, CoreWeave’s shares were up 287% from its $40 IPO price.
Retail investors often get shut out of the IPO market, but CoreWeave shows that there are still opportunities to invest in undervalued companies, said Matt Kennedy, senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of pre-IPO research that manages two IPO-focused ETFs (NYSE: IPO, IPOS). (Shareholders who bought CoreWeave on March 31, when the stock closed at $37.08, have seen the shares soar more than 317% since then.) “Even in a hot area like AI there can be opportunities that fly under the radar,” he said.
Then there’s crypto firm Circle, which raised $1.05 billion with its IPO. Circle shares rocketed 168% during its June 5 debut. The stock gained during its next two trading sessions but lost ground on Tuesday, with shares falling 8%. Circle is currently up more than 241% from its $31 IPO price.
Circle delivered the “the best first day pop for a $1 billion IPO in our records. That’s quite an achievement,” Kennedy said.
Both CoreWeave and Circle have benefited from a wave of enthusiasm engulfing the IPO market, Kennedy said. He expects that excitement to extend to Chime. The fintech has shown tremendous growth over the last few years and is now turning the corner on profitability, said Kennedy. Chime narrowed its net loss to $25.3 million in 2024, compared to losses of $203.2 million in 2023, and reported net income of nearly $13 million in the first quarter.
FOMO, or fear of missing out, will also help Chime. The fintech has “brand recognition, growth and a lot more people are following the IPO market now than a month ago. Once traders start to see pops are possible that will get people interested,” Kennedy said.
Chime was valued at $25 billion in 2021, the height of the IPO market, but is now chasing an $11 billion valuation, a more than 50% drop. Kennedy thinks Chime could pop. “When excitement builds, you will see people pour into these companies,” he said.
See you tomorrow,
Luisa Beltran
X: @LuisaRBeltran
Email: luisa.beltran@fortune.com
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Introducing Fortune AIQ
AI is reshaping work. What does it mean for your team? Fortune has unveiled a new hub, Fortune AIQ, dedicated to navigating AI’s real-world impact. Fortune has interviewed and surveyed the companies at the front lines of the AI revolution. In the coming months, we’ll roll out playbooks based on their learnings to help you get the most out of AI—and turn AI into AIQ. The first AIQ playbook, The “people” aspect of AI, explores various aspects of how mastering the “human” element of an AI deployment is just as important as the technical details.- Companies are overhauling their hiring processes to screen candidates for AI skills—and attitudes. Read more
- ‘AI fatigue’ is settling in as companies’ proofs of concept increasingly fail. Here’s how to prevent it. Read more
- AI is changing how employees train—and starting to reduce how much training they need. Read more
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Venture Deals
- Horizon3.ai, a San Francisco-based autonomous security company, raised $100 million in Series D funding. NEA led the round and was joined by SignalFire, Craft Ventures, and 9Yards Capital.
- Linear, a remote project management solution, raised $82 million in Series C funding at a $1.3 billion valuation. Accel led the round and was joined by Seven Seven Six, Designer Fund, Indie.vc, existing investors Sequoia, 01A, and others.
- PostHog, a San Francisco-based product development solution, raised $80 million in funding. Stripe led the $70 million Series D round, at a $920 million valuation, and was joined by existing investors GV, YC, and Formus Capital. GV, 1984 Ventures, Patrick and John Collison, and others invested in the $10 Series C round.
- Hypernative, a Tel Aviv-based real-time web3 threat detection solution, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Ten Eleven Ventures and Ballistic Ventures led the round and were joined by StepStone Group and existing investors boldstart ventures and IBI Tech Fund.
- Quantum Space, a Rockville, M.D.-based defense space tech developer, raised $40 million in Series A extension funding. Prime Movers Lab led the round and was joined by Sporos Capital, 1802 Ventures, AnD Ventures, and others.
- Tebi, an Amsterdam-based financial platform for hospitality businesses, raised €30 million ($34.3 million) in funding. CapitalG led the round and was joined by existing investor Index Ventures.
- Noah, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure developer, raised $22 million in seed funding from LocalGlobe, Felix Capital, FJ Labs, and angel investors.
- Sintra, a Vilnius, Lithuania-based AI employees developer for small to medium-sized businesses, raised $17 million in seed funding. Earlybird VC led the round and was joined by Inovo, Practica Capital, and angel investors.
- Daybreak, a San Francisco-based supply chain planning AI platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding from TPG Growth and Dell Technologies Capital.
- Remarcable, a Cleveland-based procurement platform for the construction industry, raised $15 million in Series A funding from Insight Partners.
- Q5D, a Bristol, England-based electric wiring automation technology developer, raised $10.9 million in Series A funding. Lockheed Martin Ventures, Chrysalix, and Maven SWIF led the round and were joined by SOSV, UKI2S, UntroD, and CPI Enterprises.
- ai.work, a Tel Aviv-based AI agents developer for IT, procurement, HR, and other internal teams, raised $10 million in seed funding. A* and lool ventures led the round and were joined by First Minute Capital, FirsthandVC, Timeless Partners, angel investors, and others.
- Guidehealth, a Dallas-based AI-powered health care services provider, raised $10 million in funding from Emory Healthcare.
- Somnee, a Berkeley-based AI-powered sleep technology developer, raised $10 million in seed extension funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by TIME Ventures, LEAD VC, the NBA’s Orlando Magic ownership group, and others.
- ZeroRISC, a Boston-based silicon security solution, raised $10 million in funding. Fontinalis Partners led the round and was joined by Fundomo, Ray Stata, Dylan Patel, and others.
- Aethero, a San Francisco-based space-grade computers and autonomous satellite platforms developer, raised $8.4 million in seed funding. Kindred Ventures led the round and was joined by Neo, Giant Step, O’Shaughnessy Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.
- Co-Power, a Munich-based decentralized energy infrastructure developer for the European industrial sector, raised €6.4 million ($7.3 million) in seed funding. Cherry Ventures led the round and was joined by Abacon Capital, Aurum Impact, the founders of Flixbus, and others.
- Dreamhub, a New York City-based AI-native CRM for B2B SaaS, raised $7 million in funding from the founders of MuleSoft, Pardot, and Datorama.
- OpenTrade, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure company, raised $7 million in funding. Notion Capital and Mercury Fund led the round and were joined by existing investors AlbionVC, a16z crypto, and CMCC Global.
- Arlequin AI, a Paris-based AI-powered data operations company, raised €4.4 million ($5 million) in seed funding. Vsquared Ventures led the round and was joined by 10x Founders, Kima Ventures, Better Angle, and angel investors.
- Impact Recycling, a Glasgow-based plastic recycler, raised £3.3 million ($4.5 million) in funding from IW Capital.
Private Equity
- Sixth Street Growth agreed to acquire a majority stake in Wealthbox, a Providence-based CRM platform for financial advisors, for $200 million.
- Angeles Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Solid Surface Care, a Charlotte-based surface care, maintenance, and restoration services provider for commercial facilities. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Sojourner Consumer Partners acquired Lornamead, a Tonawanda, N.Y.-based personal care company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Exits
- International Wire Group agreed to acquire Hussey Copper, a Leetsdale, Pa.-based copper products manufacturer, from KPS Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Capital Rx acquired Amino Health, a San Francisco-based healthcare navigation solution. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Voyager Technologies, a Denver-based defense and space technology company, raised $382.3 million in an offering of 12.3 million shares priced at $31 on the NYSE. The company posted $148 million in revenue for the year ending March 31, 2025. Dylan Taylor backs the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Churchill Asset Management, the New York City-based investment-specialist of TIAA’s asset manager Nuveen, raised $1.5 billion for its second fund focused on co-investments with U.S. middle market private equity firms.
- Hypax, a Berlin and London-based investment firm, raised €120 million ($137.1 million) for its new fund focused on European corporate carve-outs in the middle market.
- Plug and Play, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based investment firm, raised $50 million for its fund focused on fintech and AI.
PEOPLE
- Strategic Value Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm, added Grégoire Paepegaey as a managing director and member of the European investment team. Previously, he was at TDR Capital.
