In Brief

Wall Street is once again whispering about a potential Discord IPO. Discord, the popular chat and community platform, filed confidential IPO paperwork with the SEC and has pinned its hopes on a debut in March, sources told Bloomberg. The company hired top-tier tech IPO bankers Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase as its underwriters. Should the tea leaves continue to look positive for this offering, the public could be getting a peek at Discord’s finances next month.

But we’ll have to wait and see. Even if investors are gung-ho, it’s not clear yet whether 2026 will become a better market for IPOs. Discord was reportedly in early-stage talks about an IPO back in March of last year. But then came chaos in the U.S. federal government — between the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-inspired budget cuts and the end-of-year federal shutdown — scaring off IPO hopefuls.

If the current stock market rally continues and encourages late-stage startups to go public, Discord’s IPO could be one of the biggest of the year. Discord was last valued at $14.7 billion in a 2021 funding round in which it raised $500 million. 

The chat app, originally made popular by gamers, now claims more than 200 million monthly active users. The company reportedly walked away from a $10 billion acquisition offer by Microsoft in 2021 to remain independent.

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