The public offering market has been active. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, 208 companies completed IPOs in the first half of 2026, raising more than $137 billion. In the first half of 2025, 180 IPOs raised more than $27 billion.
That is meaningful news about public offerings. It tells an owner very little about whether investors will fund their company.
I see businesses approach capital raising as though the main task is finding the right investors. Access matters, but an introduction will not fix questions the company cannot answer. Before I would spend time on outreach, I would look closely at what an investor is likely to find during diligence.
Can the company explain its numbers?
Investors need more than a pitch deck and an attractive revenue forecast. They need to understand how the business has performed and how management knows.
I would want financial statements that can be reconciled to the underlying records. I would look at revenue by customer, product, or service; gross margins; cash flow; debt; and the assumptions behind the forecast. If the company says sales are growing, I would ask whether gross profit and cash generation are improving too.
The numbers do not have to describe a perfect business. They do have to describe the same business management is pitching.
When an owner cannot readily explain a material difference between the presentation, the books, and the bank activity, I would resolve that before inviting investors to examine it.
What will the money accomplish?
“We need capital to grow” is a starting point, not a use of proceeds.
How much is needed, when will it be spent, and what measurable milestone should that spending achieve? What happens if the company raises less than planned? How long will the money last if sales arrive later than forecast?
I also want to know whether the proposed capital funds an opportunity or repeatedly covers an operating shortfall. A business with weak unit economics may need changes to pricing, delivery, expenses, or management before more money improves its position.
Sometimes the right answer is to raise capital. Sometimes it is to fix the business first. Those decisions require different plans.
Can the business survive a hard look?
Diligence rarely follows the order of a pitch deck. An interested investor may ask about customer concentration, contracts, intellectual property, pending disputes, taxes, ownership, prior financing, or obligations that are not obvious in the financial summary.
Those questions are easier to answer before an investor is waiting. I would organize the key records, identify gaps, and decide which issues need to be resolved or explained. If management already knows a material weakness exists, hoping nobody asks is a poor strategy.
Preparation does not mean pretending risks have disappeared. It means describing them accurately and showing what the company is doing about them.
Is this the right capital for this company?
The IPO figures describe companies accessing public markets. A smaller private business may be considering equity, debt, a strategic partner, or another source of funding. Each has different costs, obligations, and consequences for the owner.
The question is not whether capital is available somewhere in the market. It is whether the company has a sound reason to raise it, can support the proposed terms, and is prepared for the scrutiny that comes with it.
A strong market may make a headline. Readiness is company-specific.
Before I help an owner think about investor introductions, I want to understand the business, the numbers, the proposed use of funds, and what diligence is likely to uncover. That assessment can reveal whether it is time to raise—or what needs attention before the company tries.