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🔋RheEnergise market opportunity + meet the founders

RheEnergise patented HD Hydro™ is a low-cost, scalable long-duration energy storage solution that is 40–50% cheaper than lithium-ion for 8+ hour storage. With a $600M+ project pipeline and a $4T global market by 2040, RheEnergise is set to lead the LDES sector. To learn more about RheEnergise’s mission join their live Q&A.

Invest in RheEnergise | $3.2M Raised | 62% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

🪵 Prairie Clean Energy (PCE) is launching the world’s first flax straw processing plant in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. The plant will create over 30 full‑time jobs and inject more than $3M annually into the local economy. The fibre will serve European pulp and bio‑composite markets; pellets will be used for animal bedding, cat litter, and biomass fuel. 

⚡️ VoltSafe received a European patent for power connector technology, a development that supports safe electrical connectivity across marine, industrial and other high-load environments.The approval extends VoltSafe’s intellectual property rights across 39 European countries.

💪VEGAIN’s founder, Melissa L., has been selected for the Fall 2025 Founder Lab at Movement 51! Movement51’s national program for early-stage women entrepreneurs raising capital with clarity and confidence.

🤔 What’s on our minds

💻 Design Goes Public: What Figma’s IPO Tells Us About Tech Exits in 2025

The tech sector in 2025 had remained mostly quiet, until Figma’s IPO officially entered the public market. The collaborative design platform made its debut on July 31, 2025, pricing its shares at $33, the stock surged to $115 on the first day and settled just under $90 within a week. 

Figma’s success may have a ripple effect, encouraging more high-profile private companies to consider the public route over mergers and acquisitions. Lets take a look at Figma’s capital strategy, investor return, and setbacks to see what they did right.

How Figma set itself up for an IPO after a failed acquisition 

Figma was set to be acquired by Adobe in 2022 for $20 billion, but the deal collapsed after antitrust scrutiny from both the U.S. and EU. Rather than pivot or sell to another buyer, Figma focused on product-led growth and profitability, they continued to build their product that put designers and community at the forefront. Backed by founders who valued independence and VCs with patient capital, Figma proved themselves to be a late-stage, fundamentals driven company that could succeed in the public market.

Key Metrics:

• Revenue Growth: +46% YoY (as of Q1 2025)

• Customer Base: Used by 95% of the Fortune 500

• Profitability: Reached operating profitability before IPO

• Investor Return: Early VCs like Index Ventures, Sequoia, and Greylock saw 10x–100x returns

Not Without Challenges

While Figma’s IPO was a success, it wasn’t without turbulence. Within two trading days, the stock pulled back more than 20%, wiping nearly $11 billion in market value. This kind of volatility is common, historically, around 40–50% of tech IPOs experience similar pullbacks shortly after launch. Most analysts attributed Figma’s drop to early profit-taking and post-IPO hype rather than any fundamental weakness.

But it’s a reminder that IPOs come with market risk, lock-up periods, and enhance public scrutiny. Startups hoping to follow in Figma’s footsteps will need to be ready for the operational, regulatory, and investor relations demands of life as a public company

Final Thoughts

Figma had a strong public debut and is one to watch in the coming months to determine if IPO was a good move. It’s common for early hype to give way to valuation pullbacks as the market recalibrates expectations and shifts focus to long-term performance. Looking at past examples, Airbnb’s IPO has yet to return to its initial highs after the first few months of its launch. While Facebook experienced a similar post-IPO dip after launching at $38.23 per share, but has since grown significantly, reaching over $700 per share.

Regardless, Figma’s entry into the public arena is a meaningful development. It shows that even in a cautious market, fundamentals-led, product-driven companies can be rewarded. This may encourage other high performing startups, such as Notion, Webflow, and Airtable, to seriously consider IPOs as a viable path towards liquidity and scaling the business.

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🌸 Blossom Socials Investor Conference 2025

FrontFundr will be attending Blossom Socials Investor Conference 2025 this September in Toronto. This is Canada’s largest event for retail investors, live from the iconic Rogers Centre.

Hosted by Blossom, the investing social network where over 300,000 retail investors are sharing their portfolios, trades, and investing ideas. Get your tickets here!

📣 CMD Summit: Brand vs. Performance with Trieste Reading

FrontFundr’s Trieste Reading, VP of Growth, will be speaking at CMD Summit Surrey 2025 this October, hosted by the Melville School of Business at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

She will be moderating the Fireside Chat – Brand vs Performance: Finding the balance between voice and ROI. If you’re in the Vancouver area and want to dive deep into marketing, save your spot for this event!