Tech's Top IPOs of 2010

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Splashy tech startups like Twitter and Facebook opted not to sell their shares on the public market this year, but the technology industry held strong, capturing the largest number of IPOs of any sector in the U.S. Since the beginning of 2010, 37 technology companies have gone public, with total proceeds of $5.1 billion, according to Renaissance Capital, an IPO research firm. That's a big uptick from the same period last year, which saw 17 IPOs priced. "There's a lot of rhetoric and stories about the absence of the IPO, but activity from the tech sector has still been active," said Paul Bard, vice president at Renaissance Capital. Newly-public tech firms have also delivered more solid returns than any other industry (with the exception of consumer and business services), posting an average first-day return of 14.0% and an average total return of 34.0% from their initial pricing. Bard expects 40 to 50 tech IPOs to price by the end of 2010. Tech's IPO Outlook Most tech companies that completed IPOs this year are far from household names. The well-known startups sitting in the IPO pipeline -- meaning they filed an S-1 but have yet to price -- include Skype, car rental outfit Zipcar and content farm Demand Media. These firms, say analysts, are likely waiting for better economic conditions. "These companies want a firm showing that they can get a reasonable price and not have to slash the offering price which was the norm several months ago," said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, an IPO advisory firm in Lutz, Fla. Earlier this year, online marketing company ReachLocal

and mobile-data service provider Motricity

- both highly anticipated IPOs in the venture community - were forced to cut their offerings due to the economy. Sweet is hoping that next year will be different. "I'm looking for a bombshell IPO," said Sweet. "A premiere name like Facebook would literally bring pandemonium for months ... even General Motors

has nothing on Facebook." To read the rest, head over to