The year 2026 is rapidly drawing to a close, and with it, the precious window for companies to launch initial public offerings. While the year has already seen a monumental headliner in SpaceX, whose historic debut set a new benchmark, the urgency for other venture-backed hopefuls is now palpable. As the public-market opportunity narrows and the traditional post-Labor Day filing sprint intensifies, all eyes are turning to which private companies are poised to make their move and capitalize on the remaining market appetite before year-end.

Crunchbase’s sophisticated predictive intelligence tools have meticulously analyzed a multitude of well-funded private entities, flagging a select group with at least a 40% probability of successfully navigating the public markets within the next six months. Interestingly, Anthropic, a name that frequently tops most IPO watchlists, falls just outside this immediate six-month screen. While Crunchbase’s model unequivocally considers an eventual listing for the AI giant to be "very likely," it projects a slightly longer, six-to-12-month timeline for its grand debut.

Nonetheless, Anthropic remains a crucial component of this diverse watchlist. Together with the other seven companies highlighted below, this cohort represents a fascinating cross-section of innovation, spanning critical sectors such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, cryptocurrency, consumer health, and climate technology. From the personal wellness technology of smart-ring maker Oura to the enterprise productivity prowess of Notion, these companies embody the cutting edge of venture capital and represent the next wave of potential public market stars.

A Record IPO Sets the Stage for a High-Stakes Close

The first half of 2026 proved to be an exceptionally vibrant period for venture-backed IPOs, with 58 companies achieving public listings at valuations of $1 billion or more, according to Crunchbase data. This figure starkly contrasts with the 27 such listings in the first half of 2025 and the 69 recorded for the entirety of last year, underscoring a significant acceleration in market activity.

More profoundly, on a dollar-value basis, 2026 has already eclipsed recent IPO years by an astonishing margin, largely thanks to the unprecedented success of SpaceX. The aerospace giant’s historic IPO in June, which saw it launch onto the Nasdaq and raise an astounding $86 billion, redefined what was possible for a venture-backed company entering the public sphere. Through the first half of 2026, venture-backed startups globally collectively raised a staggering $110.8 billion via IPO listings, a figure that dwarfs the $12.6 billion raised in the first half of 2025. This record-breaking performance by SpaceX not only injected immense capital into the market but also served as a powerful signal of robust investor confidence in transformative, high-growth companies, especially those with clear paths to market leadership and disruptive technologies.

However, as the calendar pages turn rapidly towards the year’s end, the window for other startups to launch their 2026 IPOs is now definitively narrowing. The final months of the year typically see a rush to market ahead of the holiday season and before companies close their books for annual reporting. This "closing window" creates a concentrated period of opportunity and pressure for those aspiring to go public. With this in mind, let’s delve into the notable venture-backed startups that Crunchbase’s predictive intelligence, coupled with market insights, suggests are prime IPO candidates within this critical six-month timeframe.

Venture-Backed IPOs to Watch: The Final Sprint

Anthropic: The AI darling, and arguably the most valuable venture-backed startup globally, has openly signaled its ambition to beat rival OpenAI to the public markets. Speculation, fueled by a recent Wall Street Journal report, suggests Anthropic could debut as early as September or October, potentially seeking to raise an eye-popping $100 billion through its offering. This would be a landmark event, cementing its position as a foundational AI company. While Crunchbase’s predictive intelligence tools lean towards a slightly more extended timeline of six to 12 months, the company’s trajectory and intent are clear. Anthropic has already secured a colossal $125 billion from private-market investors since its inception in 2021, making its eventual IPO a monumental liquidity event for its backers. The company’s Claude AI model is a direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and its public listing would offer investors a direct play on the burgeoning generative AI sector. (For context, OpenAI is also deemed a very likely IPO candidate by Crunchbase, but not within the immediate six-month window, a prediction reinforced by the WSJ report, which indicated the company might push its listing to 2027, highlighting the strategic race between these AI titans.)

Oura: The Finnish smart-ring pioneer, Oura, is firmly positioned as a likely IPO candidate within the next six months, according to Crunchbase. Having successfully raised $1.5 billion from a diverse investor base, the company is reportedly considering an offering as soon as September or October. This move could see Oura achieve a valuation surpassing the impressive $11 billion it commanded in its most recent funding round, as detailed by the Journal. A successful IPO by Oura would not only validate its innovative wearable technology but also serve as a crucial test of public-market appetite for consumer health hardware. This category has seen relatively few large venture-backed listings in recent years, making Oura’s potential debut a bellwether for the broader digital health and wellness sector. Its focus on discreet, data-rich health tracking distinguishes it in a crowded wearables market.

Notion: San Francisco-based Notion, a powerhouse in productivity software, emerges as a strong contender for a near-term IPO, a view supported by both Crunchbase’s predictive algorithms and independent market reporting. The company, which offers a versatile workspace for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases, has raised over $343 million from investors. Reports from sources like Forbes indicate robust revenue growth, significantly propelled by its enterprise AI offerings, which enhance collaboration and workflow automation. Further cementing its IPO readiness, startup reporter Alex Konrad recently disclosed that Notion has appointed a new board of directors, strategically composed of individuals with extensive public-company experience – a "big step towards an IPO," as Konrad noted. This move signals a clear intent to strengthen governance and prepare for the rigorous demands of public market scrutiny.

Kraken: Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is identified by Crunchbase as another probable public-market entrant, with a high likelihood of making the IPO leap within the next six months. The Cheyenne, Wyoming-based company had confidentially filed an IPO registration statement with the SEC almost a year ago, signaling its initial readiness. However, amidst significant market volatility in the crypto space, those plans were subsequently put on hold. Despite this pause, CEO Arjun Sethi indicated in May that the company was "~80% ready" for a 2026 listing. While reports have suggested the possibility of a further delay into 2027, Kraken’s underlying business, its established user base, and its previous steps towards an IPO keep it firmly on the watchlist. Its performance would be a key indicator of investor confidence in the still-evolving and often volatile cryptocurrency market, especially given the increased regulatory scrutiny faced by the sector.

SambaNova Systems: Following the successful $6.4 billion Nasdaq IPO of Cerebras Systems in May, attention has pivoted to SambaNova Systems, a fellow innovator in specialized AI chips and infrastructure. Crunchbase predicts the San Jose, California-based company is a probable IPO candidate, assigning it a slightly less than even chance of going public within the next six months. This forecast aligns with comments from co-founder and CEO Rodrigo Liang, who CNBC in July that SambaNova was "strongly considering" a U.S. IPO next year. Liang’s remarks followed a substantial $1 billion Series F raise this summer, which valued the company at an impressive $11 billion post-money. SambaNova’s proprietary Dataflow-as-a-Service platform and its focus on enterprise AI solutions position it strategically in the rapidly expanding market for high-performance AI computing, making its IPO a keenly watched event for the broader AI hardware and software ecosystem.

H2 Green Steel (Stegra): Sweden-based H2 Green Steel, sometimes referred to as Stegra, stands out as a colossal climate technology venture. It has amassed approximately $12.6 billion in combined equity and debt financing, including a significant €1.4 billion financing round that concluded in June. Bloomberg reported in June 2025 that the company was actively considering an IPO to fund its ambitious expansion plans. Founded in 2020, H2 Green Steel is pioneering the production of "green steel" using renewable electricity and green hydrogen, attracting substantial orders from major industrial customers and automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Scania, Porsche, Volvo Group, and IKEA parent Ingka Group. The company broke ground in August 2022 on an integrated steel plant in Boden, northern Sweden, with its first phase designed to produce 2.5 million tonnes of green steel annually. While some customer agreements target deliveries by 2027, the project’s overall timeline remains under review. Crunchbase considers H2 Green Steel a probable IPO candidate, giving it a roughly even chance of listing within the next six months, underscoring its potential as a leader in industrial decarbonization.

Stripe: A perennial presence on virtually every IPO prediction list, Stripe continues to be a closely watched entity, and for compelling reasons. Before the meteoric rise of AI giants, the payments processing company reigned as the most valuable U.S.-based startup, underpinned by a robust and rapidly expanding business model. Since its founding in 2010, Stripe has raised an astounding $10.4 billion through various venture rounds and secondary offerings. Despite its maturity and scale, the company has consistently deferred a public market entry, opting instead for repeated tender offers that provide liquidity to employees and early investors. The question persists: Will Stripe finally make its long-anticipated run at the public markets in 2027? While Crunchbase’s model predicts the South San Francisco, California-based company is a "very likely" IPO candidate in the long term, its short-term prospects are deemed a bit more uncertain. The model suggests a six-to-12-month timeframe as more plausible, a sentiment echoed by CEO John Collison, who has publicly stated the company is "in no rush to go public." Its sheer size and strategic importance in the global digital economy mean its eventual IPO will be one of the most significant events in fintech.

OpenEvidence: OpenEvidence, an innovative AI platform designed to empower doctors, is identified by Crunchbase as a probable IPO candidate. Should it pursue a listing, the predictive intelligence suggests it is likely to go public within the next six months. CEO Daniel Nadler has offered a strategic perspective on the company’s timing. In a January interview with CNBC, he articulated a clear "order to nature" for AI companies entering the public markets: "Foundation model companies go public first. Then the application layer follows. That’s how the internet played out, and that’s how this cycle will play out, too." Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, OpenEvidence’s specialized AI for healthcare positions it to capitalize on the increasing integration of AI into medical practice, offering tools that could revolutionize diagnostics and treatment planning. Its IPO timing, therefore, is strategically linked to the successful public debuts of AI foundational models like those from OpenAI and Anthropic, which could set the stage for a thriving ecosystem of AI-powered applications.

Methodology Behind the Predictions

For this comprehensive analysis, we leveraged Crunchbase’s proprietary predictive intelligence tools, combining their algorithmic insights with our own in-depth reporting and market analysis to refine a definitive list of potential near-term IPO candidates.

Crunchbase’s IPO predictions are built upon a sophisticated model that ingests vast amounts of company data. This includes crucial metrics such as funding and valuation history, indicators of financial growth, strategic key leadership hires, market-share expansion trends, and shifts in headcount. These diverse data points are then used to assess the likelihood that a private company will transition to the public markets.

The model generates an overall IPO probability score, which is then translated into qualitative ratings such as "very likely," "probable," or "uncertain." For companies that meet a predetermined minimum confidence threshold, Crunchbase further refines its forecast by estimating when an IPO might realistically occur, segmenting potential timelines into four distinct windows: within six months, six to 12 months, 12 to 24 months, or more than 24 months.

For the purpose of this specific analysis, a "near-term" candidate is rigorously defined as a private company that holds an overall rating of at least "probable" and, crucially, possesses a 40% or greater probability of going public within six months of the prediction date. It is important to interpret the overall and timing scores separately: a company may be considered highly likely to IPO eventually without necessarily being a strong candidate for an immediate, near-term listing. These predictions are designed to be directional guidance rather than absolute guarantees and are subject to change as new company performance data, market dynamics, and broader economic conditions evolve.

As the IPO window rapidly narrows, the coming months promise to be a critical period for these innovative companies, and for the venture capital ecosystem eagerly anticipating their public debuts.

Illustration: Dom Guzman