Deliveroo's IPO flop may rattle tech hopefuls

It could be a wakeup call for hopeful tech startups.

Deliveroo is licking its wounds after a disastrous IPO.

Its shares slumped around 30 percent on their debut Wednesday (March 31), and were still languishing at lows a day later.

Market watchers say it could be confirmation that investors are growing wary of buying shares in firms that have yet to turn a profit.

Because the food delivery app is not the only to struggle of late.

A quarter of the top 20 equity listings this year are trading at or below their offer price.

Polish e-commerce logistics firm InPost debuted strongly in Amsterdam, but is now 10% below its listing price.

Cloud platform DigitalOcean sank 12% on its Wall Street debut last week.

Chinese tech giant Baidu and video site Bilibili have both endured tepid listings.

One analyst told Reuters the wind has turned on all tech stocks, saying investors are now keen on cheaper shares that should benefit from a global recovery.

Market debuts by more traditional firms with a history of profits have fared better.

UK shoemaker Dr Martens is up around a fifth on its listing price.

German used-car platform AUTO1 is also well up.

Hopeful firms are still lining up to do offerings, however.

Dutch tech firm WeTransfer and Swedish payments company Klarna are both poised for European listings.

And analysts say investors are still sitting on plenty of cash, keen to do deals.

Even so, some may feel it's time to pause and assess, before committing their billions.