Inflation, rising interest rates, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves through the stock market, putting a freeze on the IPO pipeline

The IPO market is on pace for its worst year in decades, leaving fledgling companies with few options but to burn through cash while they wait for the stock market to calm.

Late last year, hundreds of companies were in the final stages of preparing to go public, encouraged by the best 18 months ever for U.S. initial public offerings. Then a combination of factors—sky-high inflation, rising interest rates, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—sent shock waves through the stock market.

The IPO pipeline froze. So far this year, traditional IPOs have raised only $5.1 billion all told Dealogic data show. Typically at this point in the year, traditional IPOs have raised around $33 billion according to Dealogic data that goes back to 1995 last year.

At this point, these offerings raised more than $100 billion. The last time levels were this low was 2009 when the US was recovering from the depths of the financial crisis and the IPO market reopened near the end of the year. IPO advisors say they don’t expect 2022 to follow that pattern, meaning it could end up being the worst year for raising money in IPOs since Dealogic, a research firm started tracking it in 1995.