How Tech Listings Are Reshaping Equity Capital Markets

After several years of subdued activity, global equity capital markets (ECM) are gradually regaining momentum in 2025. While the recovery remains selective and valuation-sensitive, one force is clearly leading the resurgence: technology listings. From Latin America to Central Asia, Turkey, and Africa, tech and tech-adjacent issuers are reshaping how equity is raised, how investors allocate capital, and how exchanges modernise themselves for the next decade of growth.

Although progress is uneven across regions, common themes have emerged. More digital and technology-enabled companies are seeking public capital; cross-border listings are increasingly the norm; and many high-growth issuers are opting for U.S., European, or other offshore venues when domestic markets lack the depth to absorb large, growth-oriented IPOs. Together, these shifts are redefining liquidity patterns, investor participation, and the mechanics of ECM execution worldwide.

A Global Market Rebound Driven by Tech

The macro backdrop is encouraging. After the post-pandemic slump and the rate-hike cycle that squeezed valuations, 2025 has marked a turning point for ECM activity. IPO proceeds are higher than in 2023–24, but the tone of the market is different from the exuberance of 2021—investors are more selective, demanding clearer paths to profitability and durable growth.

Tech and tech-adjacent sectors are at the heart of the revival. Fintech, e-commerce, AI, digital infrastructure, and cloud-native service providers are not only coming to market more frequently, but they are also achieving stronger pricing outcomes than many traditional sectors. Their asset-light models, scalable economics, and global addressable markets allow them to command tighter spreads and better valuations, even as investors remain disciplined.

Crucially, the rise of these companies is not limited to mature markets. Emerging regions—particularly Latin America, Turkey, Central Asia, and Africa—are seeing a surge in venture-backed and digital-first companies reaching the scale and visibility required for public listings. In many cases, these are the firms driving modernisation in their home markets: digital banks, payments platforms, logistics software providers, and AI-enabled service companies that are becoming essential infrastructure for their local economies.

Latin America: Offshore Listings Regain Momentum

Latin America’s IPO cadence remains below the 2021 peak, but signs of renewed confidence are evident. Tech-enabled consumer, healthcare, and fintech companies are increasingly testing U.S. capital markets, proving once again that Latin American growth stories can attract global equity pools when framed with scale, transparency, and credible governance.

Domestic exchanges continue to grapple with structural challenges—thin liquidity, macro volatility, and concentrated investor bases. As a result, many of the region’s most promising issuers prefer to debut in New York, reshaping the price-discovery process. Analyst coverage, institutional demand, and valuation benchmarks are increasingly determined offshore, influencing how domestic investors view and price home-grown tech opportunities.

These dynamics are also transforming issuance mechanics:

• Dual-track and cross-listing strategies have become more common as issuers look to balance domestic visibility with superior offshore liquidity.
  
  
• Follow-on activity is rising, especially for companies that initially listed abroad but continue raising capital for expansion, acquisitions, or shareholder monetisation.
  
  
• Domestic ECM is becoming more complementary than primary, supporting companies that have already established valuation benchmarks internationally.

The outcome is a more globally integrated ECM ecosystem—one in which Latin American tech companies scale faster, but rely on international venues to sustain investor demand.

Turkey and Central Asia: Internationalisation of Local Growth Stories

Turkey’s capital markets have been unusually active over recent years, with a flood of growth and tech IPOs. By 2025, regulators are considering moderating approvals to avoid overheating, a sign of the intense demand and strong retail participation that has shaped the market.

Despite this oversight, the pipeline remains robust. Private equity and venture capital investors have significant dry powder earmarked for high-growth digital, AI, and platform businesses. These companies increasingly operate across regions—Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States—which naturally steers them toward larger, internationally visible listings.

Meanwhile, Central Asia is undergoing its own ECM transformation. With smaller domestic markets, companies often pursue dual-listings or offshore IPOs via London, Dubai, or global financial centres. The shift away from resource-linked equities—historically the core of many local exchanges—is accelerating as digital outsourcing firms, software developers, and fintechs gain prominence.

International bookrunners, foreign law documentation, and cross-border shareholder bases are now standard for the region’s tech listings. The result is a more diversified deal structure and an investor mix that blends local familiarity with international capital.

Africa: Digitising Exchanges and Building the Next Wave of Issuers

Africa is emerging as one of the most dynamic regions in terms of ECM infrastructure modernisation. Trading volumes, market capitalisation, and investor participation are rising across key exchanges as digital platforms improve execution quality, transparency, and access.

This market modernisation is creating fertile ground for tech issuers. In South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt, investor appetite for fintech, digital banking, and cloud-infrastructure companies is at its highest level in years. Many leading tech firms remain private, but anticipation is building for IPOs and follow-ons in payments, digital infrastructure, and banking-as-a-service.

Structural shifts are also taking place:

• New listing segments focused on high-growth and SME tech issuers are expanding the universe of companies able to access public markets.
  
  
• Partnerships with global technology and cloud providers are improving exchange connectivity, drawing in foreign institutional investors and enabling tighter bid-ask spreads and more accurate price discovery.
  
  
• Electronic trading and mobile access are bringing younger and more diverse investor groups into local markets, improving liquidity.
  
  

Together, these innovations are helping African exchanges position themselves as competitive venues for tech capital formation.

How Tech Listings Are Reshaping ECM

Across all regions, the rise of tech listings is changing the structure and behaviour of equity capital markets in three fundamental ways.

1. Product Mix is Shifting Toward High-Growth Sectors

Tech and tech-adjacent companies now represent a larger share of IPO and follow-on volume, shifting sector composition in local indices and regional equity funds. Digital platforms, SaaS providers, fintechs, and AI-enabled businesses are replacing the dominance of traditional sectors such as energy, manufacturing, and consumer staples.

2. Issuance Structures Are Becoming More Globalised

Cross-border IPOs, dual listings, and offshore venues are becoming standard for high-growth issuers in Latin America, Turkey, Central Asia, and Africa. These structures give companies access to deeper liquidity and more sophisticated investor bases, but also elevate regulatory and disclosure requirements.

3. The Investor Base Is Becoming More Diverse

Global long-only funds, tech-specialist investors, and crossover hedge funds are increasingly active in emerging-market tech IPOs. Their demand profile differs from that of domestic institutions, encouraging greater transparency, improved governance standards, and more sophisticated investor-relations strategies.

Global Banking & Markets

At Global Banking & Markets, we help high-growth companies and emerging-market champions navigate the new dynamics of equity capital markets. From dual-track IPO strategies and cross-border execution to valuation advisory, investor access, and post-listing capital raising, our team brings deep sector expertise and global distribution to every transaction. Whether you are preparing your first public listing or seeking to scale internationally, we deliver integrated ECM solutions that unlock liquidity, broaden your investor base, and accelerate your growth.

Here are the upcoming Global Banking & Markets events for your regions of interest.​

Latin America

• Global Banking & Markets Latin America 2026 (LatAm & Caribbean capital markets focus).​

Africa

• Global Banking & Markets Africa 2026 (flagship Africa capital markets gathering).​

Middle East

• Global Banking & Markets Middle East 2026 (connecting clients to capital and capital to clients in the region).​