tableau_rgb_300x150The market for initial public offerings gained some momentum in the second quarter as 21 companies started trading on public exchanges, more than double the previous quarter’s totals.

The total offering amounts of all venture-backed companies came in at $2.2 billion — up from $716 million in the first quarter.

The IPO market was led by Tableau Software, the Seattle maker of data visualization products which completed a blockbuster $292 million IPO on May 17. Shares of Tableau, which initially priced at $31, are now trading near $57 per share on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DATA. The company, led by CEO Christian Chabot, boasts a market value of more than $3 billion.

“We have been predicting an IPO pickup in the second half of 2013 and it appears as if this momentum has begun, driven by the strong biotechnology offerings,” said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. “We are hopeful that this positive trend will not be impacted by negative externalities in the second half of the year, as has been the case over the last several years.”

However, the M&A market was not quite as strong with just 83 deals, according to the report from NVCA and Thomson Reuters. That was down from 86 deals during the first quarter of the year, and down from 122 for the second quarter of 2012. Heesen noted that the numbers aren’t that worrying.

“While on the surface, the low acquisitions volume thus far in 2013 could appear problematic, our market intelligence is telling us that there is a great deal of in-bound interest for venture-backed targets, suggesting that these companies are holding out for better pricing from strategic buyers,” he said. “With an improving IPO market, this situation will only improve for our companies.”

Here’s a look at the chart for the M&A and IPOs.

ipos

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