Secondary Market for AI Startup Equity Draws New Investors

A secondary market for equity in private AI companies has grown as valuations for OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX have increased. The market allows buyers to purchase shares before any public offering. Venture investor Mike Chan of Deep Ventures said his firm has received multiple offers for AI equity in recent months.

Chan stated that many offers involve multiple layers of special-purpose vehicles, which can place buyers several steps removed from the original equity holder.

Chan described a typical transaction in which an employee sells a small stake to a first-layer SPV. Additional SPVs may then invest in that vehicle, creating second- and third-layer structures. Gregory d'Incelli, co-founder of Scenius Capital, said the layered structures become more opaque as additional SPVs are added.

He noted that buyers should verify share certificates and ownership rights. Fees for some recent AI SPV offers have reached fifteen percent or more of the investment amount. Chan said a five-percent fee would be considered high.

Minimum investment sizes for first-layer SPVs can reach ten or twenty million dollars, while third-layer SPVs may require as little as five thousand dollars. Chan said some offers come only with setup and broker fees rather than ongoing carry. Anthropic raised funds at a three-hundred-and-eighty-billion-dollar valuation in February.

Three months later its valuation had more than doubled. Chan said the extended period that OpenAI and Anthropic have remained private has contributed to demand in the secondary market. He stated that retail investors may face losses if the companies later go public at high valuations.