Europe’s IPO backlog nearly halves as AI potential looms

Europe’s pipeline of companies waiting to go public has dropped from 373 at the start of 2025 to just 223 by mid-2026, according to PitchBook. That’s a decline of roughly 40%. While Europe’s IPO queue is evaporating, American exchanges are pulling in filings from AI and space-related companies at a pace that’s left European banks watching from the sidelines, largely cut out of the biggest deals of the cycle. A tale of two markets Investors on the continent have shown a persistent preference for traditional sectors like defense and industrials, leaving innovative AI ventures struggling to find enthusiastic buyers on local exchanges. High-profile names like OpenAI and SpaceX are anchoring American IPO pipelines. Europe’s answer to that lineup is comparatively thin, with Mistral AI standing out as one of the few potentially large AI listings on the horizon. One European fintech that could test whether London still has appetite for big listings is Revolut. The company has been edging closer to a potential public offering. Where crypto fits into the IPO equation Kraken’s SPCXx token gives holders indirect exposure to SpaceX shares. It’s a tokenized equity product, essentially a blockcha...