IPO fundraising: how effective comms is critical to raising capital for IPOs

So you’ve decided to go public. Having weighed up the advantages and disadvantages you’ve concluded that an IPO is the right move; you want access to capital at scale, you want flexibility for growth and you want the credibility that comes with being a listed company. You’re also aware of what comes with it; cost, time, regulatory burden. And the new expectations around transparency, governance and performance.

What is often underestimated is the role communications plays in all of this. How you explain your story, how you position your strategy and how clearly you articulate risk, resilience and growth can directly influence investor confidence and, ultimately, the valuation you achieve.

So the bottom line is, if you’re going to market – don’t forget your wallet, keys and a robust PR strategy. Below, we outline the key communications priorities which can help businesses raise capital and transition successfully into life as a public company.

But first, it’s worth setting out what an effective communications plan needs to consider across the IPO process, including the external forces that can influence timing, valuation and investor appetite.

PwC’s IPO Watch EMEA 2025 reported [pdf] that 2025 was a year of mixed signals for IPO markets. Equity markets recovered strongly in parts, but confidence was fragile. Sudden geopolitical developments, interest rate speculation and policy decisions regularly triggered sharp swings in sentiment. Stability, when it appeared, was often short-lived.

Investor appetite did return, but selectively. High-quality IPOs found support across a range of sectors, particularly where businesses could demonstrate scale, resilience and credible routes to growth. Companies with clear fundamentals and disciplined stories were able to move forward. Those relying solely on optimism were not.

So what does the year ahead look like? There is no shortage of companies preparing to go public but whether those plans turn into actual listings will depend heavily on how the wider economy behaves over the coming months. PwC is clear on this point: stability matters. If interest rates fall as expected and volatility remains contained, more deals will move forward. If not, many will wait.

In EMEA, the picture is cautiously encouraging. London recorded its strongest year for IPO and listing activity since 2021, Nordic markets stayed active and sponsor-backed listings began to return. That suggests confidence is slowly rebuilding. But that confidence remains fragile. Earlier volatility in 2025 pushed several large-cap IPOs into 2026, a reminder of how quickly market windows can close. Issuance is still highly sensitive to external shock [pdf], and timing remains one of the hardest variables for companies to control.

IPO outcomes are now driven as much by what is happening in the world as by what is happening inside the business. Central bank decisions, election cycles, trade tensions and regional conflicts all feed directly into investor mood and market timing. These factors influence how risk is viewed, what valuations feel realistic and which business models investors are willing to back. 

Even when investor demand exists, external shocks can bring IPO plans to a sudden halt. Elections, regional conflicts, trade disputes and concerns over energy security can all change market sentiment almost overnight. What looks like a clear window one week can close the next, forcing companies to delay, rethink pricing or pause entirely.

How PR can support

PR can help companies communicate openly about how global events affect their business. Investors want to understand things like where products are made, which markets matter most to revenue and whether the company could be caught out by changes in regulation or trade rules.

More importantly, they want to see that leadership has already thought these issues through. Clear, measured communication positions executives as prepared and in control, rather than scrambling to respond when something unexpected happens. Companies that have been consistent and transparent in how they communicate are far less likely to be penalised for uncertainty than those trying to explain themselves for the first time in the middle of volatility.

Investors are far more selective than they were in previous IPO cycles and capital is concentrated around businesses that can show how they make money today and tomorrow. Companies with heavy debt, unclear margins or business models that depend on perfect conditions are being treated with caution. 

How PR can support

https://www.sapiencecommunications.co.uk/insights/linkedin-for-fintech-leaders/Communications helps translate financial performance into a story investors can understand and trust. That means explaining, in plain terms, how the business generates revenue, where margins come from and how capital will be used after listing. It also plays an important role in keeping leadership messaging grounded. When expectations are high, there is a risk of overpromising. Strong communications keeps the narrative aligned with reality, so valuation is built on credibility.

Interest rates remain one of the biggest uncertainties facing IPO candidates. If cuts are slower or smaller than markets expect, appetite for new listings can drop. Higher borrowing costs make investors more cautious and put pressure on valuations, particularly for companies whose growth depends on cheap capital. This makes timing harder to control. IPO windows can open and close with little warning, forcing companies to delay, reprice or rethink their plans.

How PR can support

Communications helps companies show they are built for tighter conditions. That means demonstrating cost discipline and resilience under different rate scenarios. It means explaining how the business can grow without relying on cheap capital. It also means explaining how leadership thinks about trade-offs: where to invest, where to hold back and when to protect the balance sheet.

So if you’re planning an IPO, it is vital that you pay attention to how you communicate. You want to get the right messages into the market and be seen by potential investors, so they know why the company is listing, what the business strategy is, and how the listing enhances the company’s prospects of success. This can make the difference between an IPO that struggles to make an impact and one that sees its shares soar on the first day of dealings.

An IPO is a multi-stage transition with each phase creating its own risks, constraints and expectations. Below, we outline the core stages of the IPO journey and the communications priorities which sit alongside them.

The most effective pre-IPO communications strategies typically begin 12 to 18 months before listing. This is because it takes time to build credibility and familiarity, and narratives need to be communicated consistently – they can’t be rushed once a company has formally entered the IPO process. We call it groundwork for a reason. At this stage, the focus is on establishing a visible, coherent presence in the market. That includes leveraging regular press releases, multimedia collateral, and profile opportunities with key media. The aim is consistent regular coverage as repeated exposure helps investors, analysts and journalists understand what your company does, how it makes money and why they should care. 

Clarity and consistency of messaging is important – therefore senior leaders need to be able to articulate the company’s strategy in a way that is defensible and repeatable. This is where spokesperson training becomes essential, particularly for executives who may not yet be used to operating under sustained public and media pressure.

It is always wise to consider what questions you would least like to be asked, as you likely will be – and prepare thorough responses for them.

An effective PR/comms team can strengthen a business’ profile during the so-called ‘quiet period’ between announcing its Intention To Float (ITF) and actually doing so. While activity needs to adhere to the regulatory requirements preventing firms from influencing their share-prices, this need not come at the expense of valuable media coverage on the issues in which the company is already well-versed. Instead your PR team should focus on the areas in which your company already has established credibility. Activities such as thought leadership, sector commentary and expert insight can all continue, provided activity adheres to regulatory guidelines. 

Amid the focus on investors, regulators and prospective clients, employees are often overlooked yet they are some of the most sensitive stakeholders at this stage. These critical stakeholders should receive reassurance at this exciting but often stressful time, as internal communications are equally indispensable to any IPO-proof comms plan.

Internal and external comms are inextricably intertwined, and a failure to brief staff fully likely to result in inconsistent messaging across the business. But well-managed communications can keep channels of communication open, ensuring employees and executives can celebrate their company milestone harmoniously.

Media scrutiny surrounding the IPO doesn’t tend to dissipate once the business floats. In fact, in the first days of trading, you should expect unprecedented levels of visibility. As a newly public company, you are subject to higher transparency expectations, faster news cycles and more intense scrutiny. Every movement in the share price is interpreted, often publicly, and often without much context.

In these high-pressure moments, the market will form a narrative whether you shape it or not. So therefore this is where communications needs to step up, to ensure that narrative reflects the company’s strategy, performance and long-term direction, rather than short-term speculation. A share price rise on the first day of dealing might well be a moment to celebrate, but it is also a moment to contextualise. Engaging stock market reporters across the main newswires and financial titles helps ensure that early coverage reflects why the business is performing. Reaching out to dedicated investor platforms, bulletin boards and video or podcast outlets further reinforces the company’s business and investment case, adding depth where headlines rarely do.

This is also the point at which leadership visibility becomes especially valuable in reinforcing the company’s long-term direction. Thought leadership opportunities, commentary and expert positioning build on the credibility established earlier in the IPO journey. 

In reality, being listed is only the beginning of a business’s journey as a public company – and often this is when the real work starts. Supporting the company’s share price in the initial months after listing day and beyond is vital – as is ensuring from a PR and communications perspective that the company and management adapt their behaviour to the public markets arena.

This means being more deliberate about what is said, when and how. Every announcement carries weight in public markets, so communications must be shaped with investor sentiment in mind and aligned closely with the investor relations function to support a much broader and more visible stakeholder audience. A strong communication strategy ensures that all these audiences receive a coherent, joined-up narrative, rather than a fragmented one.

You shouldn’t think of communications as a layer which sits on top of your IPO journey, but part of the infrastructure which supports it. Our PR consultants have supported organisations through public offerings across a range of sectors, working closely with leadership teams, legal advisors, banks and investor relations functions to ensure that communications support commercial outcomes.

We understand that no two IPOs are the same and that the risks, narratives and stakeholder dynamics differ by market, sector and growth profile. We build communications strategies around the realities of your business, the expectations of your investors and the conditions of the market you are entering.

We enjoy fruitful relationships with a range of national, financial, and other specialist sector media. Perhaps most importantly, we recognise that any comms strategy should reflect the unique needs of the company in question.