As Snap, the parent company of instant photo-messaging app Snapchat, settles on Morgan Stanley (MS) - Get Report and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) - Get Report as lead underwriters for its initial public offering, a flurry of venture capital-backed U.S. tech firms could also join after the less than desirable tech IPO market of 2016.

Talks of Snapchat's valuation of $25 billion in the stock market seems to have also instilled confidence in investors who were reluctant to take on the risks of investing in tech startups. The strong performance of recently debuted VC-backed tech firms also shows the warming up of the rather chilly tech IPO climate in the first half of the year.

Cloud company Nutanix (NTNX) - Get Report , the largest tech IPO of the year, priced its IPO above the expected range at $16 on September, 29. The stock closed its first day of trading at $28.79, with a valuation well above the $2 billion mark at the last private round in 2014.

Other late bloomers such as Coupa Software (COUP) - Get Report and Twilio (TWLO) - Get Report all priced at the higher end of their range and all closed significantly higher on their first day of trading.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Snapchat's IPO could come as early as March. Besides Snapchat, a string of other tech companies are also likely to be strong contenders for the 2017 tech IPO market. Here's a list of candidates to keep an eye on.