Unlocking IPO Opportunities: How Project-NED Helps Companies Thrive in a Challenging Market

The IPO market has faced stagnation over the past three years, with bankers projecting another below-average year in 2025. Conversely, the stock market is enjoying an all-time high, led by big stocks like Apple, Nvidia, and Meta Platforms. In this regard, Alex Clavel, Co-chief Executive of SoftBank Investment Advisors, says,

“The US market has been affected by election-related jitters, heightened interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainties…After the excitement of 2021, there’s often a cooling-off period, and that’s what we’re seeing now”

In an interview with CNBC, Jennifer Nason, Global Chairman of Investment Banking at JP Morgan, expressed her hope that the IPO market will return to normal by 2025. While investor sentiment has shifted toward heavyweight public offerings in the past few years, the sector targeted by Project-NED offers more dynamic opportunities. 

NED targets innovative mid-sized companies that can achieve successful exits through smart market strategies, often ignored in favor of flashy IPOs. Project-NED offers a clear route for these companies, especially Asian startups looking to enter the U.S. market. By making agile, strategic moves, bringing valuations that reflect real-world performance, and focusing on long-term growth, Project-NED helps these companies thrive in a volatile, competitive market.

IPO Trends: The Shift Toward Blue-chip Offerings

Before looking at the IPO trends, we want to establish the rationale behind Project-NED’s goals and target areas.

Project-NED believes that IPOs are necessary for startups. 

Our rationale is simple: a thriving IPO market allows venture capital firms to invest in startups that deliver lucrative exits.

For an active IPO market, investors need to see reliable growth trends. Deals are valued not on today’s performance but their trend and positioning. When companies consistently exceed growth expectations, investors have the confidence to value deals on future cash flows or even on revenue multiples.

However, today, investors are mainly interested in big deals—high-profile IPOs from large, established companies with strong records and significant market share, like ServiceTitan and Figma. As Dave Chen from Morgan Stanley noted, the expectation for next year is a small number of high-value tech IPOs rather than a return to the broader IPO activity seen in previous years.

This trend reflects the market's preference for large, established companies over smaller, innovative firms. Such preferences create a significant opportunity for dynamic, mid-sized companies to pursue alternative exit strategies, particularly through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and strategically timed Initial IPOs.

This is exactly where Project-NED’s expertise lies. 

How Project-NED operates?

Project-NED, in a nutshell, helps companies leverage their agility and growth potential to attract investors using:

1. SPVs: With SPVs, Project-NED helps mid-sized companies raise capital without immediately going public, providing flexibility and potentially higher valuations.

2. Strategic IPOs: By carefully timing their market entry, Project-NED helps mid-sized companies capitalize on periods of investor appetite for growth stories, potentially achieving more favorable valuations.

   
   

This approach allows mid-sized firms to bridge the gap between private and public markets, offering investors a compelling mix of growth potential and operational stability. 

Let us discuss these aspects in detail

Using SPVs to Boost Financial Readiness and Valuation

Project-NED specializes in funding growth-stage companies through special purpose vehicles (SPVs). These SPVs inject growth capital into each company, giving them the financial stability to meet revenue goals and build valuation strength. 

This approach by Project-NED has several key advantages:

• SPVs are created as separate entities from the parent company, effectively isolating financial risk and reducing negative financial impacts

• SPVs can be used to securitize assets, allowing for favorable borrowing rates and increased capital access

• Project-NED only funds 2-3 companies per SPV. This approach ensures targeted growth while reducing financial risk, helping companies stay flexible in volatile markets

• The SPV structure provided by Project-NED will be designed to attract investors. It will provide a clear, targeted investment opportunity with potentially reduced risk compared to investing directly in multiple early-stage companies.

In this way, Project-NED develops a financial ecosystem that supports growing companies by reducing risk and maintaining flexibility. It also helps companies to drive expansion and increase valuation while protecting investors from the typical risks of early-stage investments.

Tracking valuation: Project-NED’s other core philosophy

Tracking valuation metrics with real-world data is also at the core of Project-NED’s strategy. Metrics like annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth, EBITDA margins, and market share expansion are used consistently to measure progress and demonstrate sustainable growth. These KPIs provide insight into a company's financial health and help in decision-making and investor relations. For instance, ServiceTitan, valued at $9.5 billion in 2021 with an impressive 24% revenue growth, serves as a benchmark for companies aiming to align performance with investor expectations. Moreover, tracking these indicators over time allows for better forecasting and risk management, enabling companies to adapt to market changes swiftly.

Opportunities for Dynamic, Mid-Sized Companies

The IPO market remains tepid, with a notable absence of fast-growing generative AI companies going public since the launch of ChatGPT. The high costs associated with developing and operating AI technologies present significant barriers, leaving many startups reliant on capital from tech giants to cover their expenses. However, if these AI startups can sustain rapid growth, they could pave the way for a revitalized IPO market.

While the broader market fixates on mega IPOs, smaller, more innovative companies have the flexibility to explore creative exit strategies. This dynamic segment often provides higher growth potential but requires careful financial planning and market alignment. Project-NED’s expertise ensures companies in this space can differentiate themselves by focusing on AI, fintech, and cybersecurity—key sectors attracting investor attention in 2025.

This funding environment opens the door for Asian companies, especially those in the AI and deep tech space. While these companies possess a growth pattern and supporting performance metrics, they often need more agility and support to weave into the U.S. market.

Project-NED precisely addresses this complexity. 

Project-NED enables Asian companies to meet investor expectations and thrive post-IPO by offering strategic planning, valuation optimization, and operational guidance. As evidenced by significant funding flows into AI startups—accounting for about 35% of total startup funding in recent quarters—there is a palpable investor appetite that Project-NED can help these companies capitalize on.

The Key Metrics Investors Watch in Today’s IPO Market

In this environment, tracking the right metrics becomes critical. Today, investors are more discerning, focusing on specific indicators demonstrating long-term potential. In this regard, Project-NED’s real-time valuation tracking helps companies stay agile, refining strategies to align with investor expectations.

To achieve this, Project-NED ensures its clients focus on several important metrics:

1. Revenue Growth Rate: Annual growth above 30% strongly signals a company's ability to scale. Sustained ARR growth increases investor confidence.

2. EBITDA Margins: Investors prefer companies with positive or improving EBITDA margins, showing operational efficiency and a path to profitability.

3. Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio: A competitive P/E ratio compared to industry peers makes a company more attractive to public investors.

4. Valuation Multiples: Metrics such as enterprise value to sales (EV/S) and price to revenue (P/R) show how a company compares within its sector. Lower multiples than peers suggest potential upside, while higher multiples must be justified by rapid growth.

5. Cash Flow and Liquidity: Strong cash flows reassure investors, indicating the company can handle market fluctuations.

Project-NED: Integrated Support for Long-Term Growth and Success

In a market often overshadowed by heavy competitors, Project-NED is the definitive partner for dynamic growth-stage companies, providing unwavering, end-to-end support. From initial planning to post-IPO performance management, we guarantee sustainable success. Our focus on sector alignment and aggressive valuation optimization enables firms to attract crucial capital and maintain investor confidence through every phase of their growth journey.

Therefore, today, success in the IPO market is within reach for companies that embrace bold, agile strategies. So, Asian firms aiming for U.S. listings need look no further; Project-NED offers unparalleled cross-border expertise and integrated financial solutions that drive long-term value creation. By emphasizing critical metrics and strict valuation discipline, we ensure that companies are not just IPO-ready but fully equipped to excel in public markets.