Image Source: Kevin Smith on Flickr

NEXGEL, Inc., a manufacturer of high-water content, electron beam cross-linked, aqueous polymer hydrogels, or gels, used for wound care, medical diagnostics, transdermal drug delivery, and cosmetics, made its public debut on Wednesday in a slow IPO week ahead of the holidays.

Latest IPOs and Direct Listings

NEXGEL, Inc. (NXGL) opened on Dec. 22 at $4.40. The company had priced its initial public offering of 2.585 million shares of its common stock and accompanying warrants to purchase up to 2.585 million shares of common stock at a combined offering price of $5.50. NEXGEL warrants (NXGLW) opened at about 76c per warrant. NEXGEL finished Thursday at $3.12.

Upcoming IPOs

Upcoming IPO and direct listings expected include Bitdefender, Phoenix Motor, Nuvo Group, Austin Gold, Chobani, FreeCast, Keter Group, Qiniu, and Jin Medical.

Bitdefender Holding B.V., which identifies itself as "a global cybersecurity leader," announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form F-1 to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission for the proposed initial public offering of its securities in the United States.

"The timing, size and price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined. The initial public offering is subject to SEC and other regulatory review processes, as well as market and other conditions," the company said. Bitdefender did not disclose a proposed ticker symbol for its anticipated stock offering.

Phoenix Motor filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq under symbol 'PEV.' Upon the closing of the offering, Phoenix Motor will be a "controlled company" within the meaning of the corporate governance standards because more than 50% of the voting power of its outstanding common stock will be beneficially owned by SPI Energy (SPI).

Phoenix Motor currently designs, assembles, and integrates electric drive systems and light and medium duty electric vehicles, and it also markets and sells electric vehicle chargers for the commercial and residential markets. The company delivered its first commercial electric vehicle in 2014. It develops and integrates an electric drivetrain into the Ford Econoline Chassis, specifically on the Ford (F) E-450.

Nuvo Group has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of ordinary shares and has applied to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'NUVO.' The company's prospectus stated:

"We believe we are the most advanced data-driven remote healthcare solution focused exclusively on pregnancy care. Our business model today consists of a hardware/software hybrid platform that provides remote access to medical-grade data to all key participants in the pregnancy care ecosystem. Our solution, which we refer to as our INVU platform, is at the core of our business model and provides connected pregnancy care management both at home and in the clinic."

Austin Gold, a gold exploration company focused on gold targets and making district-scale gold discoveries in Nevada, has submitted an application for listing its common shares for trading on the NYSE American under the symbol 'AUST.'

Chobani has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering, stating that it expects that the shares of its Class A common stock will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol 'CHO.' In its prospectus, Chobani stated:

"At Chobani, we are an anti-traditional consumer packaged goods company. We challenge the old, staid and conventional status quo represented by our legacy competitors by creating food that is delicious, natural, nutritious and accessible... We currently sell our products in single-serve, multi-serve, and/or multi-pack formats through approximately 95,000 retail locations in the United States... Chobani also has an international presence through the operation of a manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Australia and participates in certain international export markets, such as Mexico and Canada."

FreeCast has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of common stock and has applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol 'CAST.' 

FreeCast is an entertainment-based content discovery, aggregation, and management company that provides SmartGuide digital interactive technology for consumers to organize numerous sources of online media similar to a traditional, on-screen television guide.

Keter Group SA has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering in the U.S. The company intends to apply to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol 'KETR.' In its prospectus, the company stated that, "For over 70 years, Keter has inspired people to create amazing spaces in and around the home through an innovative, industry-leading portfolio of durable indoor and outdoor lifestyle solutions."

Qiniu is a Chinese media and data cloud service platform that counts e-commerce giant Alibaba's (BABA) Taobao China as its biggest institutional shareholder with a 17.7% stake.

Jin Medical International has filed for an offering of 5 million ordinary shares in an initial public offering. The offering price of its ordinary shares in this offering is expected to be in the range of $5 to $6 per share, Jin said in a filing with the SEC.

The company has applied to list its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol 'ZJYL.' The China-based VIE, Changzhou Zhongjing and its subsidiaries, design and manufacture wheelchairs and living aids products for people with disabilities, the elderly, and people recovering from injury.