Trading app Robinhood is launching a fund designed to give retail investors access to private markets.
Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI) has filed an initial registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin the process to register a public offering of its shares.
The firm notes that the number of publicly traded companies in the US has fallen from about 7000 in the year 2000 to about 4000 in 2024,*shrinking the number of investable opportunities for retail traders.
At the same time, private companies are growing in number and value, with the estimated value of these firms in the US now surpassing $10 trillion.
The new fund, coming on the heels of the introduction of private tokenised stocks in the EU earlier this year, is designed to democratise access to private markets, says Robinhood.
“For decades, wealthy people and institutions have invested in private companies while retail investors have been unfairly locked out. With Robinhood Ventures, everyday people will be able to invest in opportunities once reserved for the elite,” says Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev.