New Q&A: An expert take on growth for private companies in 2024 and 2025

An expert take: KPMG's Francois Chadwick feels "very positive for 2025 as it relates to investments and exit activity," as IPO markets and funding have seen a slight uptick over 2023 and 2024.

Chadwick, a San Francisco-based global and national partner in charge of the Emerging Giants practice with KPMG Private Enterprise, focuses on pre-IPO, PE-backed and VC-backed companies that want to grow, strengthen and transition.

📈 Why it's important: In an always-evolving landscape, it can be difficult for private companies to know which strategies are optimal to achieve scale and create value.

Axios spoke with Chadwick to learn how he and KPMG support companies — and find out the latest trends.

How does KPMG elevate a company's business journey?

"Our work helps companies scale and grow, maximizing value for investors, employees, founders and shareholders.

• We combine my operator work experience with the power of KPMG Private Enterprise to support companies entering new markets, creating new product offerings, and preparing for M&A or public markets.
• This allows them to achieve growth potential and scale quickly."

Can you tell us about your background and expertise?

"I'm really an entrepreneur at heart.

I started at KPMG UK in Manchester in 1993. In 2000, I came to the U.S. with KPMG to help build the billing engine for Napster at the ​​Silicon Valley office.

Before returning for my current role at KPMG, I…

• Sold a CPA firm and a tech company.
• Worked for Uber as the global head of tax and accounting.
• Helped take Uber public, growing from three cities to more than 100 countries — and from less than $1 million in revenue to more than $17 billion.

After Uber, I worked for various other tech companies as a CFO before landing back at KPMG.

Here's why: I've always been interested in cutting-edge tech and KPMG has an entrepreneurial mindset that aligns with my career goals."

What's next for the 2025 VC market?

Get up to date: "In Q2 2024, 43 U.S. IPOs raised $8.9 billion with volume up 19.4% and total proceeds up 26.5% over the previous quarter.

• In that same timeframe, VC deal value surged to $55.6 billion across 3,108 deals.

I'm really looking forward to 2025 because KPMG will be working with companies across the U.S. and internationally. We're expecting to see…

• More IPOs and bigger funding, driven by expectations of improving inflation, anticipated Fed rate cuts and improved market enthusiasm.
• A surge in smaller deals, particularly for more mature companies with strong balance sheets.
• More companies in the AI, clean tech, green tech and defense tech spaces."

What should companies know about growing in their markets?

"Understanding key trends and investor expectations is critical to raising funds and preparing for an IPO.

Investment narratives matter — they cut through the deluge of data and analysis and help companies sift real windows of opportunity from market noise.

• Our KPMG Private Enterprise professionals understand what it takes for private companies to be successful at each stage of the business journey, and they're focused on helping companies scale and create value in today's challenging market environment."

Learn more about how KPMG Private Enterprise can help your company.