Ready for greatness
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman (with his dog Darwin) runs America's leading site where visitors can write reviews on everything from food joints to yoga classes.
After being stuck in the doldrums for years, America's IPO market is showing signs of life. A renewed appetite for risk, coupled with intense interest in social media and other web-based industries, has investors willing to test the waters once again.
According to financial research firm Renaissance Capital, initial public offerings in the U.S. market have raised $26 billion so far this year, up nearly 150% from the same period in 2010. Many of the companies that have gone public in 2011, such as LinkedIn (which the market valued at $8.9 billion), and some about to go public, like the web-based coupon company Groupon, are well-known.
But what about other innovative small companies? Fortune has selected 13 companies with revenues under $200 million that have registered to go public or that industry experts say may do so within the next six to 12 months. Each offers a cutting-edge product or service: Jawbone, for one, has created a Bluetooth headset that interacts with smartphones; another, Bridgelux, is making high-efficiency LED lighting. For more, read on.
