How to Invest in Rippling Stock Pre-IPO

With one facet of Rippling's business, companies can onboard and train new employees with its HR software solutions and manage their benefit plans. Companies can also set up devices and grant access to apps through their IT solutions. Finally, Rippling's customers can log hours and pay their workers accordingly.

Co-founder and CEO Parker Conrad admits that conventional wisdom for start-ups says to focus on doing just one thing well. But he wants to build what he calls a "compound software" business. He believes that by offering multiple software solutions, Rippling can provide customers with better data, better pricing, and better results.

Perhaps this unconventional approach is why Rippling is gaining traction so fast. According to management, since it's an all-in-one solution, businesses that use its software need half as many workers in their HR, IT, and finance departments.

Finally, Rippling integrates with major enterprise apps, including Slack from Salesforce (CRM -0.62%), Zoom Communications (ZM +0.95%), and Asana (ASAN +2.23%). This means that companies can add Rippling while keeping various other enterprise products they're already using.

Is Rippling publicly traded?

Shares of Rippling stock aren't available for trading on exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq. This is because it's still a privately held company -- it hadn't gone public as of September 2025. Privately held companies customarily go public through an initial public offering (IPO), an event in which shares are offered to retail investors for the first time.

When will Rippling IPO?

Rippling hasn't announced an IPO yet, so it's not on the IPO calendar. Rumors suggest it's gearing up for an IPO in 2025, but there's no way to be sure exactly when Rippling might go public.

Typically, companies choose to wait until they reach sufficient size since the expenses associated with being a public company can be prohibitive for small businesses. However, Rippling is probably already big enough to be a public company for reasons that will be evident in a moment.

Start-up companies (like Rippling) also ordinarily wait until the business can demonstrate two things: a predictable pattern of growth, outcompeting key rivals, and a viable path toward profitability. Companies that can't demonstrate these two things may not enjoy a successful IPO.

Investing in stocks

Directly investing in Rippling stock may not be straightforward right now. But fortunately, investing in stocks in general is straightforward.

With all stocks and hopefully Rippling if it IPOs, all you have to do is follow these easy steps:

1. Open your brokerage account: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
2. Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
3. Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
4. Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
5. Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
6. Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.

How to buy Rippling stock

Accredited investors enjoy some of the only ways to invest in Rippling stock. For example, Forge Global (FRGE -0.98%) runs an exchange for privately held companies. Only accredited investors can use it to buy and sell shares of private companies. But it's possible to invest in Rippling stock this way and through other exchanges offering similar services.

Another way to invest in Rippling is by funding stock options through Equitybee and similar platforms. In this scenario, an employee at Rippling would have to want liquidity for their stock compensation prior to an IPO event. Accredited investors can provide liquidity in exchange for future shares.

Is Rippling profitable?

We can't definitively say whether Rippling is a profitable company. The company hasn't gone public, so some of the most useful information isn't publicly available. But here's some of the financial information we know and can glean about this business.

• First, it's clear that Rippling is a high-growth company. According to Sarca's market reporting, Rippling grew over 52% YoY to a total revenue of roughly $570 million.
• Second, Rippling is a subscription-based business. And its latest funding round suggests it's already generating a whopping $350 million in annual recurring revenue.
• Third, Rippling is also a well-funded business. According to TechCrunch, it has raised $1.4 billion in funding as of its Series F round.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses like Rippling typically have very high gross profit margins. So, it's likely earning an outsize gross profit. It's probable that Rippling is growing a high-margin revenue stream very fast. But it's still likely losing money on a net basis because that's normal for an enterprise software company at this stage.

After all, Rippling's institutional investors want to see the company spend money to grow at an outsized rate -- that's why they're giving it money in the first place. So, companies at this stage are unlikely to hold back on growth to boost profits.

Should I invest in Rippling?

When a company goes public through an IPO process, the registration documents are packed full of useful information. This can help investors decide whether to invest in the company. In this case, however, plenty of information is still lacking, so it's hard to say whether it will be a good investment.

Investing is also personal. And a high-growth software start-up might not be a good option for every kind of investor.

That said, investors can think about Rippling in terms of risk and reward. For example, studies have shown that many of the best stock performers are high-growth companies. Growing at a triple-digit pace and well funded for future growth, Rippling could be a rewarding opportunity.

However, the much bigger issue for Rippling might be competition. It's true that Rippling offers a unique trio of software services, and that's served it well up to this point. But the company's CEO has said its "compound software" approach is "a prediction of how software will be built in the future."

If it indeed has an effective new approach to cloud-based software, other companies will likely follow. And many bigger companies offer services in one or more of Rippling's areas and could feasibly expand into other areas with relative ease.

For example, Automatic Data Processing (ADP -0.84%) already offers trusted payroll services and has options for HR as well. It wouldn't be a stretch for the company to develop IT solutions in the future. The same could be said of Paylocity (PCTY -0.01%) and others.

All that said, I believe investors should consider Rippling to be on the riskier side of the investment spectrum. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will be a bad investment. It simply means investors will need to make sure it's right for them and invest an amount of money that adequately factors in the potential downside.

ETFs with exposure to Rippling

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are for investors who want to invest in a theme without picking the individual winners of that theme. ETFs own many stocks in the same category and offer shareholders instant diversification. Since Rippling isn't publicly traded, it doesn't have stock held by an ETF. But there are some ETFs for related investing themes.

FAQ