Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s 2021 Technology and Life Sciences IPO Report presents analysis related to 179 initial public offerings and 6 direct listings completed by U.S.-based technology and life sciences companies between January 1 and December 31, 2021. Except where noted, the report examines both IPOs and direct listings and sets forth quantitative and qualitative results concerning filing, pricing (for IPOs), and value statistics; governance details; ownership and structure factors; and defensive measures. The report also discusses concurrent private placements and indications of interest (for IPOs).

The first half of 2021 proved to be the most active first half of any year for tech and life sciences IPOs since the high levels reached during the dot-com era in the late 1990s. The second half of 2021, while not as active, still led to a notably high number of IPOs. Meanwhile, there were six direct listings completed in 2021, an increase over two direct listings in 2020, and all six were by companies in the technology sector.