The Allbirds stock ticker, BIRD, will soon appear on the New York Stock Exchange. But retail investors have a rare chance to invest in the Allbirds IPO as of Oct. 25 (Monday).

Robinhood Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOD) just added Allbirds to its IPO Access platform. Starting in 2021, the stockbroker app has taken select stocks and given retail traders an opportunity to apply for IPO shares. They're chosen at random, and if chosen, they have a chance at some big early gains that IPO stocks sometimes make.

That puts them right in the arena with the big hedge funds and other whales that once had an advantage over the "Average Joe." But in today's market, you don't get as much of a head-start just for starting with more cash.

Now investors will have a chance to get Allbirds stock ahead of its IPO.

Allbirds filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 29, 2021. The filing valued the company at $2 billion. The company aims to trade at a range between $12 and $14.

While buying any stock before its IPO offers some chance at profits, there will always be an element of risk. Some stocks plummet sharply after going public.

Unfortunately, while Allbirds is a promising shoe brand, it might be one of them. Here's why...

What Is Allbirds?

San Francisco-based Allbirds was named affectionately by its New Zealand founders, a reference to the fact that New Zealand has no native land mammals.

The company leans full-tilt into an "environment-friendly" design. When it comes to designing shoes, this means limiting the amount of carbon output required to make the shoes. To do this, it uses trees, sheep's wool, crab shells, and more to build its products.

For the last two years, Allbirds claims to have been "carbon neutral." It measures this with its in-house Carbon Footprint Calculator, which it invites other companies to use in order to advance the mission.

While that may sound like a tedious thing for big corporations to join in on, Allbirds has had surprising success making allies.

Adidas, for example, will work with Allbirds to release the lowest-carbon running shoe in the world. Until now, most of the Allbirds catalogue has been streetwear, and this will be the first attempt at a dedicated low-carbon performance shoe.

The company also aims to design plant-based leathers with Natural Fiber Welding.

Now, it's not just big companies in on the movement. Individual celebrities like Barack Obama, Matthew McConaughey, and Leo DiCaprio have helped promote Allbirds. DiCaprio is even an investor in the company.

So, it looks and