Chime’s IPO will test public market appetite for fintech as companies line up to exit
Pavlo Gonchar | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
There’s a mini-boom happening in fintech.
After a multi-year IPO slowdown triggered by rising rates and valuation resets, some of the emerging players in online stock trading, banking, lending and crypto-related services are hitting the public market, or at least preparing for a debut.
The next test of Wall Street’s enthusiasm is expected to come on Thursday, when Chime is slated to start trading on the Nasdaq. The provider of online banking services offered a price range of $24 to $26 a share, which would equate to a market cap of about $9.1 billion in the middle of the range, though that number would be higher on a fully diluted basis. The IPO pricing is scheduled for later Wednesday.
That’s a big step down from where venture investors like Sequoia Capital valued the company in Chime’s last fundraising round in 2021, when private tech markets were raging. The reported valuation at the time was $25 billion, and Chime’s IPO prospectus says the share price was $69. It’s a dynamic that’s playing out across the industry, as tech executives and investors reckon with a new reality.
David Golden, a longtime fintech investor and partner at Revolution Ventures, said that in 2021, capital was so abundant that “equity was basically free,” making it possible to sell stock “for any price under any circumstances.”
“You saw a valuation reset in the market,” said Golden, who previously led JPMorgan Chase’s tech investment banking practice. Now the window appears to be open, and “they basically said, ‘Look, we don’t really need the money, but we think it’s time,'” Golden said.
A Chime spokesperson declined to comment.
There are reasons for optimism.
Lat month, trading app eToro debuted on the market and jumped 29% on its first day, though the stock hasn’t done much since. That same week Mike Novogratz’s crypto firm Galaxy Digital finally made its U.S. debut, uplisting from the TSX.
Then came crypto company Circle, whose blockbuster listing helped solidify what now looks like a true reopening of the fintech IPO market. Circle is trading at over $118 for a market cap of $26 billion, after pricing its offering at $31.
Others are on the horizon. Klarna, a provider of buy now, pay later loans, filed its prospectus in March but then delayed its offering a month later after President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs roiled markets. The company hasn’t provided an update on its timing, but in May reported nearly $100 million in quarterly losses.
Gemini, the crypto firm founded by the Winklevoss twins, said last week that it confidentially filed for an IPO. Bullish, a crypto exchange backed by Peter Thiel, has also filed confidentially for an IPO, according to a report on Tuesday from the Financial Times.
Going public for companies like Chime requires a recognition that the market has fundamentally changed from where it was a few years ago. For Sequoia, SoftBank and Tiger Global, who all wrote checks in Chime’s 2021 financing round, that means taking a haircut on that investment and hoping Wall Street helps them recover.
Stripe, the most highly valued U.S. fintech, has almost gotten back up to its peak. After raising at a $95 billion valuation in 2021, the company slashed that number by almost half to $50 billion in 2023. Early this year, it climbed back to $91.5 in a tender offer for employees and shareholders. But Stripe has shown no urgency to hit the public market, as it’s able to regularly hold secondary offerings.
‘Acquisition currency’
For Chime, revenue in the latest quarter climbed 32% from a year earlier to $518.7 million. Net income narrowed to $12.9 million from $15.9 million a year ago.
“They believe there’s enough support in the public markets to raise meaningful capital and gain an acquisition currency to go out and acquire other companies,” Golden said.
Even with the lowered valuation, Chime’s IPO will still create big paydays for earlier backers like DST Global and Crosslink Capital, the biggest outside investors in the company.
Silicon Valley investors are desperate for returns after an extended drought. While exits for venture firms in the first quarter hit their highest quarterly value since the fourth quarter of 2021, nearly 40% came from a single IPO, according to the National Venture Capital Association and PitchBook. That IPO was CoreWeave, a provider of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Ryan Gilbert, general partner at Launchpad Capital, said “sponsors and advisors are very realistic” about the market conditions and “realize the window is open.”
“But I don’t think they know how high the window is up from the floor,” Gilbert said. “And I think would much rather get the IPO done and start trading than risk aggressive pricing.“
He said that Chime is a business that spent a lot of money on luring customers, which is a big challenge for smaller companies that lack universal brand recognition. According to its prospectus, Chime paid the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks roughly $33 million over three years to have its logo worn as a patch on player jerseys.
Chime now has to prove it can take advantage of all that marketing spend and retain customers as it competes with incumbents like Square, PayPal and SoFi.
While Chime isn’t a bank, most of its services sit at the core of consumer banking. It primarily generates revenue through interchange-based fees on debit and credit card transactions.
“It’s pretty simplistic,” said Dan Dolev, an analyst at Mizuho. “I’m actually surprised by how unsophisticated that business model is.”
How well the market receives that model and Chime’s story could have a big influence on the rest of the fintech space.
“I think they’re going to look at Chime as a potential canary in the coal mine,” Golden said. “If it goes well — and you’ll know that in the next two to three months — I think you’ll see much more receptivity” from other companies in the pipeline, he said.
“If it doesn’t go well,” Golden added, “I think they’ll continue just to sit on their hands and wait it out.”
WATCH: Lot of appetite for IPOs
The Honda Ruckus has earned cult status thanks to its minimalist styling, exposed frame, and seemingly endless customizability. The scooter, also known in international markets as the Honda Zoomer, has spent years being seen as a blank canvas for scooter tuners, urban commuters, and anyone who just wanted something simple, small, and kind of weird to zip around town. A few years ago, Honda finally answered the call for an updated version by announcing and producing the “Zoomer e:”, which was an electric version of the Honda Ruckus. So where is it?
When Honda launched the all-electric version of the Ruckus, the Zoomer e:, back in 2023, many fans hoped it was only a matter of time before we saw it quietly glide onto U.S. streets.
But two years later, there’s still no sign of a stateside release, and no indication that Honda plans to change that anytime soon.
The Zoomer e: was first introduced in China in early 2023 alongside two other retro-inspired electrics: the Cub e: and Dax e:.
The Zoomer e: keeps the stripped-down, industrial look of the classic gas-powered Ruckus, but swaps the 49cc engine for a 400W rear hub motor and a 48V 24Ah battery (around 1.15 kWh).
It was originally given a top speed of a mere 25 km/h (15.5 mph) to keep it street legal as an electric bicycle in its first market of China, where it also came with functional but stubby pedals so riders could pretend it was actually pedalable.
The first version of the electric scooter claimed a range of up to 80–90 km (50–56 miles) from its removable lithium-ion battery, depending on conditions.
We’ve since seen the performance bumped up to 40 km/h (25 mph) top speeds when the scooter was introduced into the Philippines market, where the local L1B classification allowed for higher speeds. It’s fairly obvious that the performance can be software-tweaked by Honda depending on the market, though likely to a limit. To achieve speeds much higher than 25 mph, a motor and controller swap may be required, though neither would be complicated.
In other words, the electric Ruckus’ debut revealed an ultra-lightweight, street-legal runabout designed for countries with expansive low-speed e-bike laws. But in the U.S., these types of quasi-e-bikes that are actually scooters are few and far between. The same performance can be had from a $1,000 electric bicycle, and in fact, Class 3 e-bikes in the US can go nearly twice as fast as the original electric Ruckus.
So Honda obviously hasn’t been in a rush to bring its low-spec version of the bike to the US market, where it would be a slower and heavier competitor to the wide range of cheap imported electric bicycles. However, its iconic design and cultural legacy have kept enthusiasm up for riders who have managed to privately import their own models. One Redditor appears to have imported two Honda Zoomer e: models in parts to assemble in the US, while someone else posted a YouTube video of his completely assembled Honda Dax e: model that was launched along the Zoomer e:.
Despite clear consumer interest and a growing market for low-speed electric vehicles, as well as Honda’s own proven interest in growing its electric scooter market, the company hasn’t made any moves to release the Zoomer e: in the US. That’s not surprising since America still lacks a robust electric scooter culture (or even a gasoline scooter culture, for that matter), and anything motorcycle-shaped that doesn’t hit 30+ mph tends to get passed over by mainstream buyers.
But perhaps that could change one day. Technically, bringing the Zoomer e: to the US wouldn’t be a monumental task for Honda. The U.S. is a self-certify country, meaning Honda could design a version that meets federal vehicle safety standards, beef up the motor and controller for higher speeds, and sell it as either a Class 2/3 e-bike, or perhaps more appropriately, as a low-speed motorcycle with a top speed in the 35-45 mph range (55-70 km/h).
With the rise of micromobility, electrification, and growing frustration with car-centric cities, now might actually be the perfect time for a reborn electric Ruckus to hit US roads. But until Honda decides to take that step, American riders will have to keep dreaming – or start importing.
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BMW Motorrad’s futuristic electric scooter just got its first real refresh since beginning production in 2021. The BMW CE 04, already one of the most capable and stylish electric maxi-scooters on the market, now gets a set of upgraded trim options, new aesthetic touches, and a more robust list of features that aim to make this urban commuter even more appealing to riders looking for serious electric performance on two wheels.
The BMW CE 04 has always stood out for its sci-fi styling and high-performance drivetrain. It’s built on a mid-mounted liquid-cooled motor that puts out 31 kW (42 hp) and 62 Nm of torque. That’s enough to rocket the scooter from 0 to 50 km/h (31 mph) in just 2.6 seconds – quite fast for anything with a step-through frame.
The top speed is electronically limited to 120 km/h (75 mph), making it perfectly capable for city riding and fast enough to hold its own on highway stretches. Range is rated at 130 km (81 miles) on the WMTC cycle, thanks to the 8.9 kWh battery pack tucked low in the frame.
But while the core performance hasn’t changed, BMW’s 2025 update focuses on refining the package and giving riders more options to tailor the scooter to their taste. The new CE 04 is available in three trims: Basic, Avantgarde, and Exclusive.
The Basic trim keeps things clean and classic with a Lightwhite paint scheme and a clear windshield. It’s subtle, sleek, and very much in line with the CE 04’s clean-lined aesthetic. The Avantgarde model adds a splash of color with a Gravity Blue main body and bright São Paulo Yellow accents, along with a dark windshield and a laser-engraved rim. The top-shelf Exclusive trim is where things get fancy, with a premium Spacesilver metallic paint job, upgraded wind protection, heated grips, a luxury embroidered seat, and its own unique engraved rim treatment.
There are also a few new tech upgrades baked into the options list. Riders can now spec a 6.9 kW quick charger that reduces the 0–80% charge time to just 45 minutes (down from nearly 4 hours with the standard 2.3 kW onboard charger). Tire pressure monitoring, a center stand, and BMW’s “Headlight Pro” adaptive lighting system are also available as add-ons, along with an emergency eCall system and Dynamic Traction Control.
BMW has kept the core riding components in place: a steel-tube chassis, 15-inch wheels, Bosch ABS (with optional ABS Pro), and the impressive 10.25” TFT display with integrated navigation and smartphone connectivity. The under-seat storage still swallows a full-face helmet, and the long, low frame design means the scooter looks like something out of Blade Runner but rides like a luxury commuter.
With these updates, BMW seems to be further cementing the CE 04’s role at the high end of the electric scooter market. It’s not cheap, starting around €12,000 in Europe and around US $12,500 in the US, with prices going up from there depending on configuration. However, the maxi-scooter delivers real motorcycle-grade performance in a package that’s easier to live with for daily riders.
Electrek’s Take
I believe that the CE 04’s biggest strength has always been that it’s not trying to be a toy or a gimmick. It’s a real vehicle. Sure, it’s futuristic and funky looking, but it delivers on its promises. And in a market that’s still surprisingly sparse when it comes to premium electric scooters, BMW has had the lane mostly to itself. That may not last forever, though. LiveWire, Harley-Davidson’s electric spin-off brand, has teased plans for a maxi-scooter-style urban electric vehicle in the coming years, but as of now, it remains something of an undefined future plan.
Meanwhile, BMW is delivering not just a concept bike but a mature, well-equipped, and ready-to-ride electric scooter that keeps improving. For riders who want something faster and more capable than a Class 3 e-bike but aren’t ready to jump to a full-size electric motorcycle, the CE 04 hits a sweet spot. It delivers the performance and capability of a commuter e-motorcycle, yet with the approachability of a scooter. And with these new trims and upgrades, it’s doing it with even more style.
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