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EquityZen
Online Market Place From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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EquityZen is an online marketplace for trading pre-IPO employee shares from privately held companies.[1][2] The platform often links employees from private companies with investors who would not otherwise be able to invest in the company prior to an IPO.[3][4] EquityZen is based in Manhattan's Flatiron District.[5]
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History
EquityZen was founded in 2013 by Atish Davda (CEO), Shriram Bhashyam, and Phil Haslett in New York City.[1][6][7] From its outset, EquityZen was designed to allow employees of private companies to sell their equity in the company to accredited investors.[4][8] The firm started out as part of the 500 Startups accelerator program in the fall of 2013.[9][10] The company received seed funding in January 2014[11] and as of September 2015 had raised Series A funding from undisclosed investors.[12][13] EquityZen has raised $6.5 million in outside financing, including a $3M injection in 2017 led by Tim Draper's Draper Associates.[14] The financial technology firm was mentioned in the 2015 Forbes' Fintech 50 list.[15]
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Service
EquityZen operates a marketplace in which employee shareholders in private companies can make their equity available to outside investors. In addition to traditional share transfers, EquityZen introduced a new offering in the private shares market by working with the issuer to register a transfer of shares so employees and early investors can sell a portion of shares for cash without having to wait until an IPO or acquisition.[1][16][17] The firm works exclusively with companies that have already raised capital from large, institutional investors.[3] Companies need to have at least $50 million in enterprise value to be listed on the marketplace.[18] The minimum investment amount for investors is $20,000.[3]
Financial Advisors, who manage capital on behalf of others, invest their clients' capital through the platform.[19] Investors outside of the US have invested in private companies.[20][21] EquityZen has transacted in over half of the largest 25 private Venture Capital-backed companies, such as prominent companies including Lyft, Evernote, and AppNexus.[1][22][23]
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References
External links
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