Why Private Liquidity is Winning in 2026

For decades, the ultimate milestone for many high-growth startups was the Initial Public Offering. The dream was simple: build a great company, ring the bell at the NYSE or Nasdaq, and reward the employees and early investors who took a chance on you.

But as the private markets have matured, that narrative has fundamentally shifted. Recent data reveals a dramatic restructuring of the exit landscape: the traditional IPO is no longer the automatic preferred choice, nor the primary liquidity engine. Instead, secondary market trades are increasingly becoming a main avenue for realizing returns and achieving liquidity.

From Niche Tool to Market Staple

In recent years we’ve seen the rise of the company-sponsored tender offers and secondary market trades. According to PitchBook data, global secondary volume hit a record $226 billion in 2025, up 41% from 2024. This comes as private market assets under management are projected to surpass $18 trillion by 2027. Private-market secondaries have shifted from a niche tool to a market staple.

Historically, companies may have felt immense pressure to go public simply to provide their talent and early investors with a way to cash in their equity. Today, the most valuable private companies are engineering their own liquidity on their own timelines, shielding themselves from both the volatility and scrutiny of public markets.

According to CBInsights, in Q1 2026 alone, tender activity hit 134 deals, pacing to tie the all-time record of 536 deals set in 2025. Notably, this activity was heavily concentrated at the top of the market, as the most valuable private companies leveraged secondaries to facilitate shareholder liquidity at record valuations. Data from CBInsights shows exactly who is driving tender volume, specifically:

• 34.0% of the top 100 private companies have offered tenders.
• 17.1% of all unicorns have utilized tenders.

When it comes to non-tender secondaries, activity is also on the rise. On EquityZen’s platform nearly 170 unique companies traded in 2025, more than doubling the volume of transactions versus the prior year¹. This illustrates the growing role secondaries are playing to address individual liquidity needs, especially as both the M&A and IPO markets remain relatively quiet. Thus far in 2026, US IPO offerings have fallen 55% year-over-year.

By tapping private market liquidity, leading companies can reward their teams, attract talent, and control their cap tables, all while sidestepping the immense costs and uncertainty that come with a public listing.

Powering the Engine: Platforms Like EquityZen

This structural shift towards secondaries would not be possible without the infrastructure to support it. Secondary platforms like EquityZen have become the critical plumbing for this new liquidity paradigm.

By connecting shareholders of private companies with investors seeking pre-IPO exposure, platforms like EquityZen provide a streamlined, transparent, and compliant means for liquidity. Whether it’s executing a complex, company-wide tender offer or facilitating one-off trades for early employees, secondary platforms have helped democratize access to liquidity. These transactions help transform illiquid paper wealth into tangible capital, long before a company ever drafts an S-1.

The "Imminent IPO" Paradox: Why Sell Now?

As predictions from market analysts of an IPO resurgence grow, a common question arises: If a company is highly successful and reports of an imminent IPO are swirling, why would early investors or employees sell their shares on the secondary market now?

The answer lies in risk management and the realities of public market mechanics, most notably, the typical 180-day lock-up period.

When a company goes public, insiders (including employees and early investors) are almost universally prohibited from selling their shares for six months. While the IPO might happen tomorrow, true liquidity is still half a year away. As we’ve witnessed recently in the volatile world of public equities, a lot can happen in 180 days:

• Market Volatility: Macroeconomic shifts can drag down the broader market, taking the newly minted stock price with it.
• Earnings Misses: If a newly public company stumbles on its first or second quarterly earnings report, the stock can plummet before insiders are legally allowed to sell.
• The "Floodgate" Effect: When the lock-up period finally ends, a flood of insider shares can hit the market, artificially depressing the stock price just as employees or early investors are finally cleared to cash out.

For many early shareholders, waiting out the lock-up can exacerbate an existing concentration of risk. Utilizing secondary markets prior to an IPO allows them to take chips off the table, lock in potentially life-changing gains, and diversify their portfolios with more certainty. Of course, selling shareholders must also weigh the risk of missing out on potential stock upside in the public market when making these decisions.

The Road Ahead

The rise of the private secondary market as a primary liquidity engine represents a healthy maturation of the private ecosystem. It gives companies the breathing room to grow on their own terms and provides employees with the financial flexibility they deserve, without waiting on the unpredictable whims of Wall Street.

At EquityZen, we’ve spent over a decade building a platform to support this evolution. As tender offers and private secondaries continue to dominate the dealmaking landscape in 2026 and beyond, we remain committed to bringing private markets to the public and unlocking the wealth that drives innovation in today’s leading private companies.