European tech IPOs have always been few and far between, and recent tidings on the front have been largely negative to boot.
Showroomprivé went public last week but its share price dropped 10% as soon as trading commenced, and companies like music streaming giant Deezer, VC firm German Startups Group and Oberthur Technologies have straight up abandoned its announced IPO plans after lackluster interest and unfavourable market conditions.
So it isn't that much of a surprise to see HelloFresh, the Germany-based, fast-growing meal delivery startup that is majority-owned by Rocket Internet, has been forced to put its recently announced plans to go public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on ice as well. The news was reported by Gründerszene on Saturday, and was confirmed by a HelloFresh spokesperson the same day.
The company is said to be delaying the flotation because of concern about investor demand and valuation, and general 'market volatility', but may revisit its IPO plans in early 2016.
HelloFresh recently raised a sizeable round at a nearly $3 billion valuation, so it's not like they're going to starve to death any time soon, but postponing an IPO is never a good sign for both current and future investors.
To conclude, it would be a shame not to link to Redpoint Ventures investor Mahesh Vellanki's excellent breakdown of the numbers shared by HelloFresh when it filed to go public last month.
**Also read:**
Rocket Internet says its portfolio value increased by €3.4 billion since its IPO
These were the 20 biggest funding rounds in European tech in the first half of 2015
Rocket Internet-backed Helpling lays off 20% of staff just three months after acquiring Hassle
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