By sheer numbers, 2013 was the biggest year for Internet IPOs since the height of the dot-com era in 2000, though the amount raised was far less, according to one researcher.
Birinyi Associates reports that 26 Internet and social media companies went public in 2013, raising a total of $5.39 billion. If you invested in all 26, you would have enjoyed a 77.84% return on your investment. That compares to about a 40% ROI for Nasdaq.
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Largely thanks to Facebook, the aggregate figure for Internet IPOs in 2012 was higher: $18.3 billion. However, just 17 such offerings existed that year. While you would have to trace back 13 years to find a comparable year for number of Internet IPOs this year, the dot-com era produced a much larger crop. In 2000, 89 companies went public, raising $9.58 billion. In 1999, that number was more than twice as high -- 188 -- which only raised $15.86 billion, still less than what was raised last year.
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Not surprisingly, Twitter was the largest Internet IPO of 2013, raising $1.82 billion. The comparatively obscure FireEye, a malware protection firm, ranked next on the list, which raised $349 million. See the full list below, ranked chronologically:
Though Internet and social media IPOs tend to attract the most press, they are just a fraction of the market. There were 222 IPOs in the United States in 2013, raising $55 billion, according to Renaissance Capital. Birinyi looked at the global market for Internet and social media public offerings.