2017 was a rebound year for public markets. Around 160 IPOs were priced in the US alone a 52% jump from 2016 raising a combined $35.5 billion.
But the year told two very different stories. Consumer-facing companies mostly disappointed. Enterprise software companies quietly built fortunes for early investors.
Why 2017 Was a Big IPO Year
A steady bull market, improving economic sentiment, and pent-up demand from a slow 2016 pushed companies to finally go public. Tech and biotech sectors led the charge.
The shadow hanging over almost every IPO that year? Amazon. Four of the eight major enterprise software listings explicitly named AWS as a competitor in their filings.
Snap: The Biggest and Most Overhyped
Snap Inc. was the headline act. The Snapchat parent raised $3.4 billion at $17 per share in March 2017 the largest tech IPO since Alibaba in 2014 with a market valuation of around $24 billion on debut.
The hype didn't last. By year-end, the stock was already down more than 11% from its offer price. Instagram had copied Stories, user growth was slowing, and the company's dual-class share structure gave founders near-total voting control a red flag many retail investors overlooked.
Snap's IPO is now the textbook example of hype outpacing fundamentals.
Roku: The Quiet Overachiever
Roku priced its September 2017 IPO at just $14 per share, raising around $219 million. Nobody was writing breathless headlines about it.
By year-end, the stock had surged over 200% the best-performing tech IPO of the class. Investors bought into the thesis that cord-cutting was structural, not cyclical, and that Roku's platform business (advertising, content licensing) would eventually dwarf its hardware sales.
That thesis proved correct. Roku became one of the defining streaming infrastructure stories of the late 2010s.
MongoDB: The Enterprise Dark Horse
MongoDB IPO'd on Nasdaq in October 2017 at $24 per share. Shares opened at $33 on day one a 37% first-day pop and the growth didn't stop there.
The company's NoSQL database had already been adopted by more than half the Fortune 100 by IPO time. Revenue was growing at 51% annually. The market was only beginning to understand how critical flexible database infrastructure would become in a cloud-first world.
MongoDB is arguably the most quietly impressive IPO outcome of the entire 2017 class.
Okta: Identity Before Anyone Cared
Okta went public in April 2017 at $17 per share. At the time, identity management didn't sound like an exciting category. By year-end it was up 60% from its offer price.
The real tailwind was enterprise cloud adoption every company migrating to SaaS tools needed a way to manage employee logins securely across dozens of applications. Okta was that layer. Major clients at IPO included LinkedIn and Twentieth Century Fox.
Okta's story is a reminder that unsexy infrastructure companies often make better long-term investments than consumer apps.
Blue Apron: The Warning Sign Everyone Ignored
Blue Apron IPO'd in June 2017 at $10 per share, just days before Amazon announced its acquisition of Whole Foods. The timing couldn't have been worse.
Customer retention was already a problem before the IPO. Meal kit subscribers churn fast the novelty wears off, the boxes pile up, and cooking three times a week turns out to be harder than it looks in the marketing photos.
The stock fell sharply within months. Blue Apron became the cautionary IPO of 2017 a company that listed at exactly the wrong moment with exactly the wrong competitive landscape.
Carvana: The Slow Burn
Carvana debuted in April 2017 at $15 per share and its stock was already trading at a 10% discount on its first day. The used-car vending machine concept was compelling but the unit economics were unclear.
What happened next surprised almost everyone. Pandemic-era demand for used cars sent the stock to over $330 at its peak as stimulus checks flooded into car purchases. Then rising interest rates crushed auto demand and Carvana's debt-heavy model came under severe pressure.
Few 2017 IPOs have had a wilder ride.
Other Notable Names From the Class
MuleSoft: An API integration platform that went public in March 2017 and was acquired by Salesforce just a year later for $6.5 billion. Investors who held through the acquisition did well.
Stitch Fix: The personal styling service IPO'd in November 2017 despite profitability questions. It worked, for a while the AI-driven styling model resonated. Longer-term, fashion retail proved brutal.
Canada Goose: The premium outerwear brand listed in March 2017 and performed well, riding strong global demand for its products into new international markets.
Sea Limited: Perhaps the most overlooked name from 2017. The Southeast Asian tech conglomerate (gaming, e-commerce, fintech) went public at a relatively modest valuation. Years later it became one of the most valuable companies in the region, reaching a market cap above $33 billion.
Cloudera: The big data analytics company generated enthusiasm at IPO but faced a tougher competitive environment than expected. It eventually merged with Hortonworks in 2019 and was taken private.
Also Read: Why Is Ethereum Crashing? The Real Reasons Behind ETH's Price Drop
What the 2017 Class Teaches Investors
The biggest IPO of the year (Snap) was the worst investment. The quietest (Roku, MongoDB, Okta) turned out to be the most rewarding. That pattern repeats across IPO vintages more than most people realize.
Consumer companies facing entrenched competition struggled Blue Apron against Amazon, Snap against Instagram. Enterprise software companies with sticky subscription models and clear enterprise demand consistently outperformed.
The other lesson: first-day pop means nothing. MongoDB surged 37% on day one and then kept going for years. Snap popped 44% on its first day and spent the next several years disappointing holders.
FAQ
How many companies went public in 2017?
Approximately 160 IPOs were priced in the US in 2017, raising around $35.5 billion in total proceeds.
Which 2017 IPO performed best?
Roku was the standout tech performer, surging over 200% from its $14 IPO price by year-end 2017.
Which 2017 IPO was the biggest flop?
Blue Apron struggled most, hurt by Amazon's Whole Foods acquisition and chronic customer retention problems.
Is Snap still a public company?
Yes Snap (NYSE: SNAP) remains publicly traded, though it has never sustainably recovered to its IPO-era highs.
Which 2017 IPO company is worth the most today?
Sea Limited carries one of the highest market caps among 2017 debutants, followed by MongoDB, which has remained a major enterprise software player.
Bottom Line
The 2017 IPO class was a tale of two markets. Hyped consumer names underwhelmed. Patient enterprise software picks rewarded long-term holders enormously.
If there's one takeaway for investors studying this vintage: the company that generates the most press coverage at IPO is rarely the one that creates the most wealth. The boring infrastructure play usually wins.
For informational purposes only. Not financial or investment advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.