EquityZen Accelerates Access to the Private Markets with New Innovations, Increasing Velocity for New Investors

This year, EquityZen, the leading marketplace for private company investments, added platform innovations designed to enhance how investors access and navigate the private markets. Today, the impact of these efforts is evidenced by the growth and velocity of first-time investments on its platform. EquityZen has seen a 22% decrease in time to first investment, while the number of first-time investors increased over 200% year-over-year.

EquityZen launched Bids, a first-of-its-kind feature allowing individual investors to proactively name their price for shares in sought-after private companies, and lowered investment minimums to $5,000 across many single-company funds, democratizing access for a broader range of accredited investors. These launches come at a time of unprecedented growth and interest in the private markets. As more value is created in the pre-IPO landscape, the demand for sophisticated, user-friendly tools that provide both welcoming access and control has never been higher. 

"Our product philosophy is simple: listen to our clients and build the tools they need to succeed in the private markets," said Atish Davda, CEO of EquityZen. "Our best ideas always come from listening to our users. Investors gave us the idea for Multi-Company Funds and we now have more than a decade of experience building those funds. Similarly, investors told us they wanted more agency and more opportunities to build diversified portfolios. 'Bids' provides that agency, turning passive interest into proactive investment opportunities. Lowering our minimums to $5,000 tears down a major historical barrier to entry. This is about more than just new features; it's about building a systematic roadmap to make private markets more efficient, transparent, and equitable for everyone."

These launches mark a significant step forward in EquityZen's mission to bring transparency, efficiency, and accessibility to the historically opaque and illiquid private markets. Together, they have empowered new investors to participate in the private markets more quickly than ever before. Investors have made over a thousand $5,000 investments on EquityZen’s platform, marking a notable milestone towards private market democratization. By lowering the entry point from previous minimums, the company is enabling more accredited investors to participate in the growth of pre-IPO giants and build tailored, diversified private market portfolios. 

Bids have flipped the traditional secondary model on its head, allowing individual investors to signal customized interest on their terms - something historically only available to institutions.  Thousands of investors have placed bids, with sizes ranging from $15 to millions, allowing for bespoke investment options. The shortest time from a bid being placed to a successful match was just four minutes, showcasing how EquityZen’s platform has enabled quicker investments for clients.

Through these innovations and many others, EquityZen continues to lead the industry by developing the technology that empowers and welcomes the next generation of private market investors.