Geopolitical drama has reportedly stalled SoftBank-backed PayPay’s IPO

PayPay, Japan’s leading mobile payment app, has he says postponed its US IPO due to stock market volatility and recent tensions in the Middle East.

The company plans to issue its IPO price on Monday, March 2. PayPay wants to value at least ¥1.5 trillion ($10 billion), Bloomberg reported.

PayPay was launched in 2018 as a joint venture between SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, with technology collaboration from India’s Paytm. In late 2024, Paytm sold its remaining stake to SoftBank for approx $279 million.

While 2026 opened with high hopes for technology IPOs, several companies abandoned or delayed their plans to list following sales in the software industry, due to fears that AI could make traditional software work. Markets have also been shaken by US strikes on Iran and other countries’ unrest in the region.

In January, Kleiner Perkins-backed Motive Technologies, which makes dashboard cameras for luxury vehicles, called off its IPO, The Information. report. In addition, Clear Streetthe technology company, scrapped its IPO plans last month.

As the private equity market stands now, public investors are still expecting three “mega-IPOs” in 2026: Images of SpaceX, OpenAIand Anthropic.