Presented by GOTO Market Institute

There’s a lot of movement happening in the SaaS market this week — Eleven well-known startups are gearing up for an IPO, Naval Ravikant is launching a new app, and BlackRock is digging its hands in the AI honeypot. 

• A new analysis from PitchBook identified 11 startups with over a 90% chance of going public this year

• Naval Ravikant has launched a new social app called Airchat with an unconventional focus on audio.

• BlackRock is acquiring Global Infrastructure Partners in a $12.5 billion deal to power the AI revolution

These are the 11 startups most likely to IPO this year, according to analysts

According to a new analysis from PitchBook, 2022 could see a rush of high-profile tech IPOs as market conditions improve. They've identified 11 startups with over a 90% chance of going public this year based on their Exit Predictor analysis.

Some of the most anticipated names on the list include cloud data platform Databricks, valued at $43B after raising $4.2B from investors like Andreessen Horowitz. Game developer Epic Games is also cited, with a $31.5B valuation following a $1.5B secondary round.

European startups are also well represented, such as rapid grocery service Getir ($2.5B post-acquisition valuation) and battery maker Northvolt ($14.3B raised). Fintech heavyweights Klarna and Stripe made the list as well, with each raising billions respectively from investors over the years.

“But I thought we were in a down market?! Is now really a good time to go public?” If you’ve been following market movements over the past few months, then you’ve probably noticed that some of the headwinds of the past year are starting to let up.

Pitchbook’s analysts also believe there are several factors making IPOs appealing right now, such as strong revenue growth, profitability, favorable market conditions, and scale in large addressable markets. And while not all founders directly commented on their IPO timing, payments leader Stripe and healthcare booking platform Zocdoc were called out as especially anticipated public offerings.

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Naval Ravikant’s Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text

He’s back at it again. Naval Ravikant, the well-known angel investor and founder of AngelList, has launched a new social app called Airchat with an unconventional focus on audio.

Airchat allows users to record short voice messages, or "audio posts", that others can listen to and reply to over time in a threaded format. According to Naval, this asynchronous design differs from live audio chat apps by giving users more flexibility to compose and re-record messages privately before sharing.

Ever re-read your texts 2-3 times before sending them? Don’t worry. You’re not alone. According to Co-founder Brian Norgard, early users report feeling less performance anxiety on Airchat compared to text-based platforms. And Naval also believes the human voice can foster connection in a way that online text often can’t.

While the app is showing promising early traction in app stores, the platform is dealing with some challenges around moderation and optimizing the listening experience as its user numbers grow. Business Insider reporter Anthony Ha reported that “At 2x playback speed, conversations felt unnaturally fast, though customization options exist.” based on his personal experience.

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Larry Fink's big bet: BlackRock is planning to power the AI revolution

BlackRock has a reputation for buying up assets left and right. Now, the asset management giant has set its sights on a new growth area — infrastructure investments to support the rising demands of AI and digital transformation.

According to Business Insider, CEO Larry Fink sees a massive opportunity in financing the data centers, computing networks, renewable energy projects and more that will be essential for powering next-gen technologies. He expects AI in particular to drive "extraordinary" increases in demand for infrastructure globally.

To capitalize on this, BlackRock is acquiring Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5B. Fink believes this deal will be as strategically important as past acquisitions like iShares ETFs that transformed BlackRock's business.

But Larry and the company at BlackRock aren’t just making an acquisition to get ahead of the curve. Larry went on the record to say that the firm has gained $2 trillion more in assets than it did two years ago with roughly the same head count because of the productivity gains from technology advances, including AI.

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Parting Thoughts

Well, that’s the tech news for this week. Hit reply and let us know — did you learn something from today’s newsletter?

Until next time!