An initial coin offering is similar in concept to an initial public offering (IPO), both a process in which companies raise capital, while an ICO is an investment that gives the investor a cryptocoin, more commonly known as a coin or a token in return for investment, which is quite different to the issuance of securities as is the case in an IPO investment. Do you invest in ICO? and has you make money from it?
When you invest in a project during an IPO, you buy shares and become the owner of the project. When you buy tokens during ICO, you do not become the owner of the project. This is the main difference between ICO and IPO.