Crack the (IPO) window: Spring is in the air

The latest in real estate technology

March 21st, 2025

This week, Fifth Wall portfolio company Pronto Housing—a leading affordable housing Software-as-a-Solution (SaaS) and services platform announced a partnership with AppFolio, a publicly traded company that streamlines and automates real estate management. Pronto will provide AppFolio customers with Affordable Housing consulting services and compliance automation software.

Crack the (IPO) window: Spring is in the air

Spring is in the air, and the IPO and M&A market could be starting to pick up across industries and regions in parallel. After years of limited exit activity, which has slowed venture capital returns and impacted fundraising and startup growth, the IPO window may be reopening. This could apply not only to tech companies but also to real estate, construction, homebuilding, and PropTech companies.

It's not like no one saw this coming. As Brendan Wallace, Fifth Wall's CEO and Chief Investment Officer, outlined at the outset of this year, the re-opening of the IPO window is top of his list for his 2025 predictions:

“[One of my] five predictions for 2025: The IPO market will re-open. We’re already seeing signs, like ServiceTitan’s IPO and other strong performances in late 2024. This is great news for IPO-ready companies and for venture managers looking to deliver returns to investors after a tough few years.”

Today, let's explore what this potential "re-opening of the IPO window" means for real estate, venture capital, and the broader market.

1. A cold winter

Exit opportunities across sectors and geographies have been muted for some time, after peaking predominantly in 2021. (The data varies by where in the capital stack and what sectors and geographies you look at.) But for startups and companies of all stages, 2021 and 2022 were the heyday. 2023 and 2024, meanwhile, were much tougher sledding:

That said, 2024 already showed signs of a slight uptick in exit opportunities and IPOs, setting the stage for a larger resurgence in 2025:

Now, three months in 2025, we're seeing encouraging signals that the IPO market could be warming up for real. For instance, as Brendan also referenced in late 2024, ServiceTitan—a Fifth Wall portfolio company—delivered a high-flying IPO in December 2024:

"ServiceTitan's IPO yesterday was incredible news for the entire proptech ecosystem. I hope this success is a big validation of the IPO window re-opening for Proptech companies after a lull over the past three years, and I think it will be a much-needed beacon of hope not just for proptech but also for public tech equities and for private venture capital markets."

2. More signs of spring

Building on its initial momentum, ServiceTitan also delivered strong results in its latest and second public earnings call last week, with revenue increasing 29% and customer growth increasing 18% year-over-year.

ServiceTitan's public debut does not stand alone. Several other companies have either recently made or are currently making moves toward exits.

CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure company focused on AI computing for data center infrastructure, set the initial pricing range for its IPO this week; it could go public as early as April or May.
Fervo Energy, a geothermal energy company, is eyeing an IPO at a potential multibillion-dollar valuation, likely in 2026-2027, as the company sees strong tailwinds in part due to growing data center energy demand.
BYD, an increasingly dominant Chinese EV and EV charging manufacturer, raised a whopping $5B in a post-IPO primary share placement this year.
Klarna and Chime—significant fintech companies—plan to go public, as well, both at eleven-figure valuations.

The M&A market is also showing signs of renewed activity; consider, for instance, Rocket Companies' recent announcement of a