Today single board computer company Raspberry Pi gets one step closer to a London initial public offering (IPO) with its appointment of Peel Hunt and Jefferies to prepare documentation for a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
In today’s connected world, the ubiquity of IoT makes it effectively mainstream.
Yet I believe it would be a mistake to underestimate IoT’s value, as innovation in semiconductor chip manufacturing, AI, and data processing is high right now — especially on the edge due to increased demand for high-performance computing capabilities.
Over 7 million Raspberry Pi’s are sold annually and used by kids, hobbyists, hackers, and developers in startups and enterprises. Over half of all Raspberry Pi computers sold go into industrial applications.
The company was founded in 2011, and is controlled by a charitable foundation focused on tech education and young people.
In 2021 Raspberry Pi raised $45 million with investment from Lansdowne Partners and the Ezrah Charitable Trust in response to increased interest in DIY computing during the pandemic.
Arm acquired a minority stake in Raspberry Pi in November 2023 as part of an effort to support the IoT developer community. It was valued at about $560 million following the ARM investment.
In October last year, the foundation launched Raspberry PI 5, complete with new features and processing speed twice as fast as its predecessor. It cost a mere $60 and was the first Raspberry Pi computer to feature silicon designed in‑house at the company HQ in Cambridge, UK.
Speculation about an IPO listing in 2021 and 2023 failed to materialise, leaving the possibility of a 2024 IPO uncertain. However, if a listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) happens, it would serve as a noteworthy counterpoint to the hardware capabilities of Chinese and US manufacturers.
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