IPO means Initial Public Offering : the first time a private company sells its shares to the public and gets listed on the stock market. FPO means Follow-on Public Offering : when an already listed company issues more shares to raise additional money.

Quick difference

Feature| IPO| FPO
---|---|---
Meaning| First public share sale| Additional share sale by a listed company
Company status| Private before listing| Already public/listed
Main purpose| Raise initial capital and become listed| Raise more capital later
Investor angle| Often higher risk because there is no public trading history| Usually easier to judge because the company is already listed

Simple example

If a startup goes public for the first time, that is an IPO. If the same company later needs more funds and sells extra shares to the public, that is an FPO.

In one line

  • IPO = first time listing
  • FPO = follow-up share issue

If you want, I can also explain IPO vs FPO in very simple Hindi or with a real market example.