10 Facts for 10 Years of Funds

A Decade of Democratizing Access to Private Market Investments

Ten years ago, EquityZen pioneered Private Equity-style investing for the broadest possible audience of accredited investors. Until this point, access to investment opportunities in pre-IPO companies had been limited. Over the last decade, EquityZen multi-company funds have enabled accredited investors to add multiple late-stage, private technology innovators to their portfolios through one investment.

Multi-company funds are managed by experienced investment committees and provide exposure to anywhere from 4 to 25 companies. These diversified funds have a 5–7-year time horizon and return capital to LPs over the course of that life cycle as liquidity events occur for portfolio companies. The Growth Opportunity Funds are EquityZen’s flagship annual fund which is designed to provide broad exposure to the pre-IPO market. We also periodically raise capital for new thematic funds, focusing on specific industries that provide concentrated exposure to 4-6 portfolio companies.

1. Proven Track Record: EquityZen has closed 30 multi-company funds in 10 years delivering access to Private Equity-style investments to the widest audience of accredited investors.¹ 
2. Growth Potential: Growth and innovation is happening in the private markets as companies stay private longer. Historically, private equity has outperformed the public market over a 1 to 25 year period.²
3. Diversified Exposure: In one investment, EquityZen Multi-Company Funds provide investors with access to several proven, venture-backed companies.³
4. Highly Curated: Our funds’ Investment Committees have reviewed more than 25,000 opportunities, made 359 investments in 127 companies.⁴
5. Unique Vantage Point: Our Investment Committees can apply EquityZen's proprietary  private market transaction data as well as knowledge, experience and access to find late-stage private company investment opportunities at optimal moments, at fair prices and to optimize for growth upside.
6. Shares, not promises: EquityZen multi-company funds contain funds with shares purchased from existing shareholders that also received transfer approval from the private company. They do not contain “forward contracts” which only promise to deliver shares.
7. Companies Backed by Leading Venture Capital firms: 67% of Growth Opportunity Fund portfolio companies are also backed by the largest VCs.⁵
8. Low Minimums: Invest from $20,000 to access multiple VC-backed, growth-focused companies.
9. Easy: Offered through a secure, technology-enabled process allows accredited investors to access Private Equity investing from any device.
10. Variety: EquityZen has built both our annual flagship fund, Growth Opportunity Fund, as well as 15 thematic funds.

Want to know more about EquityZen Multi-Company Funds, read more here: 

Getting Started with Pre-IPO Investments 

What to Look for in a Pre-IPO Investment Platform 

A Primer on EquityZen’s Multi-Company Funds

Interested in browsing the private company investment opportunities available on EquityZen's marketplace?

Footnotes

1. Not all pre-IPO companies will go public or be acquired, and not all IPOs or acquisitions are or will become successful investments. There are inherent risks in pre-IPO investments, including the risk of loss of the entire investment, illiquidity, and fluctuations in value and returns. Investors must be able to afford the loss of their entire investment.
2. Source: Cambridge Associates 25-year Private Market Index (“PMI”) as compared to the 25-year Cambridge Associates Modified Public Market Equivalent (“mPME”) for the Russell 2000 Index, as of December 31, 2022. The mPME intends to replicate private investment performance under public market conditions. The index includes performance information for over 91,000 investments on a voluntary basis from 2,300 fund managers, accounting for approximately 71% of all venture capital, growth equity and buyout funds and therefore does not comprise returns of all funds. This information is collected via quarterly and audited annual financial statements, and therefore is not immediately up to date. The private equity funds used in this analysis may materially differ from the EquityZen funds, including differences in costs and expenses, liquidity, and fluctuation of principal or return, and the actual return of an EquityZen fund may be materially different from the PMI. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please see source data for additional information on how performance was calculated.
3. Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against market loss.
4. "The past performance of the multi-company fund's managers, its principals, members, or employees and any other fund or investment vehicle sponsored by the multi-company fund manager or its affiliates is not indicative of the future returns. There is no guarantee that the multi-company fund will be successful in achieving its investment objectives."
5. Based on top 25 largest North America-based Venture Capital firms by AUM according to SFW Institute, “Rankings by Total Managed AUM,” accessed on May 15, 2024.