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Figma's IPO pop may have caused a frenzy, but don't expect a rush of enterprise tech startups filing S-1s.

Why it matters: The IPO market's recent signs of life may not be enough to revive the pipeline of public debuts by enterprise tech companies.

The big picture: It is difficult for enterprise companies to match the growth rates and other metrics of their brethren in sectors like fintech, making it less appealing to public market investors.

Many also lack profitability or a path to sustainable profitability.

Notable exceptions, in addition to Figma, have been: Rubrik, ServiceTitan and SailPoint

Zoom in: The emergence of usage-based pricing models has also roiled the industry, creating even more near-term uncertainty that is not ideal for the public market, says Ryan Lund, co-head of both U.S. technology and global software at Houlihan Lokey

State of play: The enterprise tech companies that will look to IPO are those using AI in a way that attracts large enterprise clients, says Albert Vanderlaan, who leads Orrick's capital markets practice.

Yes, but: Not just any AI story will work.

Figma is a high-quality company — which is obvious by Adobe's $20 billion offer in 2022 — with an AI play and no "tech debt," Lund says, referring to the added work older tech companies have to do to update their legacy products.

What they're saying: "There aren't too many companies like Figma," Lund says.

What's next: A more vibrant IPO market could sway enterprise software companies to go public next year.

"There are plenty in the backlog" of the IPO pipeline, Vanderlaan says.

Figma not likely a harbinger for enterprise tech IPOs

Enterprise software companies have been slow to go public.

Illustration of a slug with a hundred dollar shaped shell

Figma&#x27;s IPO <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="pop" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/pro-rata-premium/2025/07/31/figma-ipo-investors-returns" data-vars-content-id="c1d11692-cfb2-4e09-ba36-fbe8ecde80ac" data-vars-headline="Figma not likely a harbinger for enterprise tech IPOs" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/pro-rata-premium/2025/07/31/figma-ipo-investors-returns" target="_self">pop</a> may have caused a frenzy, but don&#x27;t expect a rush of enterprise tech startups filing S-1s.Why it matters: The IPO market&#x27;s recent signs of life may not be enough to revive the pipeline of public debuts by enterprise tech companies.

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Figma not likely a harbinger for enterprise tech IPOs

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