Will 2025 finally mark the end of the IPO drought?

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More than a dozen initial public offerings have started trading so far in 2025, with the latest launching Thursday. But these launches have largely been met with tepid market reaction. The Nasdaq's president still thinks this year could be the IPO market's comeback year. 

«I do think we start seeing things really start to pick up more in the back half of the year. But even the first half of the year, we're starting to see some activity already,» Nasdaq president Nelson Griggs told CNBC's "ETF Edge" this week.

Griggs compared the IPO market to a pendulum: It swings between waves of private and public investment. «We have a track record now,» Griggs said. «If you get three straight years of having limited capital raised in public markets, there's an enormous pipeline.»

But it's not all simple launches in that IPO pipeline. Panera Brands has faced roadblock after roadblock for years in its attempts to go public. Twin Peaks, the sports bar that started trading Thursday, is a spinoff of Fat Brands intended to help pay off debt. Even the newer companies and AI players such as OpenAI seem to be thriving and raising money in the private market, giving them little incentive to go public.

Griggs did acknowledge recent innovation in the private sector has allowed companies to access more liquidity and continue to raise funds without launching an IPO. 

«There is a massive convergence of public and private, because even in the private space, you can now have access to more liquidity,» he said. «But if you want deep, sustained liquidity, you need to go public.»

According to Griggs, that innovation does not mean that the private investment landscape has changed forever. He pointed to shifts in the markets as signs that