Investors are keen to find the next big fintech IPO after the buzz in the fintech sector since Klarna’s recent IPO as detailed here, Buy now, profit later? Klarna IPO puts investors to the test. The candidacy of fintechs with higher visibility, such as Stripe, Monzo, Starling Bank, Payhawk, and Revolut, for public markets is now being considered very strongly.
Stripe: The payment giant waiting in the wings
Stripe, the global payments infrastructure company, is arguably the most awaited fintech IPO. In early 2025, its valuation was around $91.5 billion. Stripe processes over $1.4 trillion in payments a year and keeps growing, along with digital payments, for quite a long time. The speculation goes on, and the market is ready, but Stripe management has maintained that there will be no public offering in the near future, as they would like to remain a private entity for now, thanks to their large profits and access to private capital.
However, considering the huge market opportunity and competitiveness, there are many investors expecting a public offering either within the next year or two.
Monzo: UK challenger bank on the rise
Monzo is one of the leading digital challenger banks in the UK, which has turned retail banking upside down to cater to younger tech-it consumers. Having expanded its product set from just basic checking accounts to loans, savings, and investment products, Monzo hopes to capitalize on these revenue streams and customer bases in the years to come. According to industry insiders, Monzo is, in fact, looking to list in the near term, hinging on investor appetite for fintechs with retail banking growth story and innovative user experience.
Starling Bank: The digital banking trailblazer
Starling Bank, another vigorous contender in the UK challenger bank space, innovatively differentiates itself through tailored offerings in business banking and personal account products for small and medium businesses (SMB). The bank has claimed profitability, which is somewhat uncommon among challenger banks, and shows sustainable revenue growth via transaction fees and fee-for-value financial services. It is on the basis of these strong fundamentals that Starling is widely perceived as making its way to the public markets in a big hurry to accelerate its growth and expand in international markets.
Payhawk: Streamlining corporate spend management
Payhawk appears to be a niche fintech with good growth potential focused on corporate expense management and payment automated processing. The platform helps businesses to automate invoice processing with card spend and expense reporting to cover a big gap in the enterprise financial operations area. Although small compared to the banking giants, growing and getting traction with European enterprises has certainly put Payhawk into the IPO watchlist with skyrocketing enterprise fintech valuations.
Revolut: The global fintech powerhouse
Revolut continues its rapid global expansion as a fintech giant that has built an all-in-one financial app across banking, payments, crypto trading, and investment services. With tens of millions of users around the globe that work a steady revenue growth path, it is still in turbulent waters to sustain profitability. The investors see the listing of its shares for trading as an enormous market event in the fintech space that may also determine the course for the other digital challenger banks to go public.
What are investors saying
Investors are watching several key factors among these fintechs in search of their next “Klarna”:
- Revenue growth and market share: Leaders like Stripe and Revolut command large market shares and fast growth, which are crucial for high valuations at IPO.
- Profitability and unit economics: Profitability differentiates Starling and Payhawk from others, signaling sustainability and operational efficiency.
- Expansion plans: Scaling into new markets or deepening product offerings can unlock new revenue sources and attract the interest of investors.
- Regulatory environment: Compliance and adapting to evolving fintech regulations can strongly influence IPO timing and valuation.
- Competitive landscape: Fintechs must show unusual value propositions to stand out, considering that some competitors have been innovating fast, PayPal being number 1, and traditional banks.
A wave of fintech IPOs on the horizon
Now that Klarna has led the way, the pipeline is full with IPOs for financiers ever since in 2025 and beyond. At the forefront is Stripe, followed by challenger banks Monzo and Starling, a new entrant specialized in corporate spending, Payhawk, and the more expansive international player Revolut.
Each company has its own unique strengths and issues, but they are all united in the desire to utilize the capital from the public market to bring into being the next epoch of technology-driven financial innovation. For investors, these are fintechs that seem destined for thriving IPOs based on transformations in consumer behavior and the financial services landscape.
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