January 1, 2026
Big Year Ahead for IPOs
Dear Subscriber,
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| By Chris Graebe |
2025 ended with a bang for crowdfunding investors. Some 347 pre-IPO companies dropped the “pre” and went public.
The most recent win? Starfighters Space (FJET).
Shares launched during the last full trading week of the year — then promptly jumped over 350% from their IPO price.
Starfighters Space operates the world's only commercial fleet of F-104 Starfighter jets.
Based out of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Starfighters Space is the only commercial operator capable of flying at Mach 2 while launching payloads.
“Black Beauty” was retired in 2004 from the Italian Air Force to Cape Canaveral, where Starfighters uses it for research and development flights. The jet returned briefly to Italy in 2023 for the 100th anniversary of the Italian Air Force.
Their core business revolves around the StarLaunch air-launch program. This uses F-104s as a first stage to carry payloads to 45,000 feet before releasing them for air-launch to space.
This approach aims to provide cost-effective, high-cadence space access, particularly for small satellites and nano satellites.
This can allow for a lower launch cost than traditional launches.
Beyond launches, Starfighters conducts hypersonic testing and research. It partners with organizations like the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory on next-generation propulsion systems.
Its customer base includes major defense and aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin (LMT), GE (GE) and the U.S. Space Force.
The company is targeting 2026 for its first commercial launch.
With a fleet of seven F-104 aircraft and plans for expansion, Starfighters positions itself at the intersection of commercial space access, defense modernization and hypersonic development.
The stock is still finding its trading range and will be volatile in the weeks ahead.
But early investors in the crowdfunding stage have seen gains of over 700% from their initial buys.
Only investors who got into FJET’s crowdfunding round were able to get in at the $3.59 offering price.
The stock debuted on the NYSE at $10 on Dec. 18 ... and hasn't looked back since!
Shares ran as high as $31.50 on their third full day of trading.
For those who got in at $3.59, like my Deal Hunters Alliance members did, that opened the door for them to potentially 8x their money ...
Again, in just three trading days!
That’s exactly why these pre-IPO opportunities were created.
They allow everyday investors to turn a small grubstake into the kind of big win that usually only venture capitalists...
People who already have millions in the bank ...
Get to enjoy.
As my Alliance members saw with FJET, the “little guy” can win big with the right crowdfunding opportunities.
Remember those 347 IPOs I mentioned earlier? They all had varying degrees of success.
But what’s really notable about that number is that it’s more than 50% higher than 2024’s IPO roster.
2024 saw some 225 companies go public.
And there are a lot of reasons why we can expect a potentially bigger wave of successful IPOs this year.
2026: Leaving 2025 In the Dust
2025 saw the IPO market shift from "growth at all costs" to profitability and sustainable unit economics.
In 2026, startups with proven revenue, clear paths to profitability and strong governance should continue to be favored.
Here are just three of the winds at the pre-IPO world’s back this year:
- Analysts estimate 200-230 IPOs in 2026, raising $40 billion to $60 billion.
- The market has recovered significantly from the downturn of 2022-’23, with more momentum ahead.
- Plus, major privately held companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks are considering 2026 debuts, which could energize the broader market.
There’s another big driver to watch for in 2026 as well.
VC Increases Crowdfunding Bets
With the success of FJET and so many more startups before (and, no doubt, after) it ...
More startups will want to go to “the crowd” rather than to VCs for funding.
The big guys know this. And they don’t want to miss out on all this fun. (Not to mention the upside potential.)
And so, you can expect to see a higher level of venture capital join in on crowdfunding opportunities.
It’s already happening, as you can see from this chart from Kingscrowd:
In 2022, just about 7% of deals had VC backing. That’s tripled in three years to 21%.
Bear in mind — Kingscrowd’s data doesn’t include deals on the Equifund platform.
So, things look even better for startups that can get backing from a mix of VCs and individuals like us.
There was an old saying that the stock market was “the great equalizer.” Where just about anyone could take advantage of the opportunity to go for life-changing wealth.
That's what we just saw in the startup/pre-IPO world.
And we look forward to doing it all over again in my Deal Hunters Alliance publication in 2026.
Congratulations to everyone who went on this wild ride with me. And if you’re having some serious FOMO, click here to see how you can join us and potentially change your own fortune this year.
Happy Hunting!
Chris Graebe
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