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Here are the most anticipated IPOs and new listings for Q4 2021 and early 2022

It has been a record-breaking year for new public company listings — including IPOs, direct listings and SPACs — with total U.S. issuance standing at $257 billion. Though most unicorns that grew up over the last decade have found their way to the public markets, a few large holdouts remain in the pipeline for the coming quarters.

A new wrinkle is popping up as well, which potentially threatens to introduce delays. Only a day after the latest consumer-facing unicorn, Warby Parker (WRBY), came public on the New York Stock Exchange (ending the day with a $6.1 billion valuation), Wall Street looks to be escaping a government shutdown, only narrowly — with a stopgap measure, expected to be signed by President Biden, kicking the can into December.

If the government were to shut down again at some point in the future, it would include the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would delay the review process for new and pending listings. The last government shutdown on December 22, 2018, which lasted until January 25, 2019, delayed the Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) IPOs by at least a month — maybe longer.

"A shutdown would cause the pipeline for such deals to be clogged as the SEC would cease approving applications and the IRS wouldn’t be able to provide tax guidance on the transactions," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Andrew Silverman explained in a note. He emphasized that the new December deadline only delays the existing spending debates, and that even a shutdown lasting a few days would disrupt the review process for not only listings but also mergers and acquisitions.

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Delays or not, investors await some of the hottest names yet to go public — and they're not all expected to be traditional IPOs. Investing app Acorns Grow will likely enter a reverse merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). While payments platform Stripe is mulling a direct listing where no money is raised from the public but insiders are allowed to sell their shares.

Here are some of the larger names:

Stripe

Listing type: IPO or direct listing

Listing Timeline: 2022

Valuation: $100 billion

The most valuable U.S. startup, which is already competing head-to-head in the payments space with Square (SQ) and PayPal (PYPL), is reportedly seeking a 2022 IPO or direct listing. The 11-year-old company founded by two brothers, John and Patrick Collison, may be one of the largest listings on record. The last funding round in March valued the company at $95 billion, but sales in the private market suggest a valuation as high as $152 billion. Given the 2022 timetable, its valuation could be materially different by then.

Rivian Automotive

Listing type: IPO

Listing Timeline: October or November

Valuation: $80 billion

Only weeks ago, the electric pickup truck maker finally got the green light from three regulatory agencies to sell its R1T battery-electric pickup to customers. Rivian, which is backed by Amazon (AMZN), Ford (F), T Rowe Price (TROW) and Fidelity, is looking to launch its R1S SUV sometime this fall. Rivian hopes to raise between $5 billion and $8 billion in its IPO, which would peg its valuation at about $80 billion. U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson lobbied Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos to coax Rivian into building a new $1.39 billion (£1 billion) factory near Bristol, Sky News recently reported.

A Rivian R1S All-Electric SUV is displayed at the 2019 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S, April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A Rivian R1S All-Electric SUV is displayed at the 2019 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S, April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (Brendan McDermid / reuters)

InstaCart

Listing type: IPO

Listing Timeline: 2021

Valuation: $39 billion

One of the few delivery services not to go public yet or get scooped up in a merger play (though DoorDash (DASH) did hold talks with the the company earlier this year), InstaCart is also one of the few remaining mega-unicorns. The largest grocery delivery agent in the U.S. was last valued at $39 billion from a $265 million funding round in March — up 120% from its previous funding round five months earlier. As it beefs up its corporate headcount, it's also engaging in new projects. In mid-September, InstaCart partnered with Kroger to launch their "Kroger Delivery Now" program nationwide with delivery times as low as 30 minutes.

Reddit

Listing type: IPO

Listing Timeline: Early 2022

Valuation: $15 billion

The Robinhood Markets (HOOD) IPO in July was only a foretaste of the feast to come for the Reddit army, which is looking forward to the IPO of its namesake early next year. In August, Reddit raised $700 million in part to build its business and attract new users. That round valued the social media network at $10 billion, but since then, Reuters has reported the company is looking for a $15 billion valuation. Whether the stock goes to the moon or leaves early investors unfortunate bag holders, meme stock aficionados will be keeping a close eye on this listing.

UKRAINE - 2021/02/08: In this photo illustration a Reddit logo is seen on a mobile phone screen in front of WallStreetBets (WSB) logo of a subreddit where participants discuss stock and options trading. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In this photo illustration a Reddit logo is seen on a mobile phone screen in front of WallStreetBets (WSB) logo of a subreddit where participants discuss stock and options trading. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (SOPA Images via Getty Images)

Acorns Grow

Listing type: SPAC

Listing Timeline: 2021

Valuation: $2.2 billion

This nine-year-old company that brings micro-investing and robo-investing to the masses is set to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker OAKS. Once Acorns completes its planned reverse merger with Pioneer Merger Corp., a SPAC that went public itself in March, Acorns CEO Noah Kerner will continue to lead the company along with his management team. Acorns is looking to grow its user base to 8 million users by 2023 and generate revenue of $309 million that year, which would be up 335% from its 2020 reported revenue of $71 million.

Jared Blikre is an anchor and reporter focused on the markets on Yahoo Finance Live. Follow him @SPYJared

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