SPV Brokers Offer Retail Investors Access to Pre-IPO Shares in OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX

Ordinary investors can purchase interests in pre-IPO shares of OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX through special-purpose vehicles sold by several brokerages. The vehicles pool capital from multiple buyers into a single legal entity that appears once on the company cap table. Each layer charges fees, and some vehicles hold interests in other vehicles that hold the underlying shares.

Augment, founded in February 2022 by Adam Crawley and Noel Moldvai, reported assets rising from under $200 million to more than $1 billion in the past 12 months. Hiive, valued at $650 million, projects $120 million in 2026 revenue. 5 billion. Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen in January.

A three-layer SPV charging 2 percent management fees and 20 percent carried interest on a $2 million investment could divert nearly $5 million of a $10 million exit to intermediaries before taxes. Private companies including Anthropic, Anduril and OpenAI restrict share transfers, so SPV investors may never hold shares directly.

Lawsuits alleging fraud or improper formation are already in progress. "We're blowing through our projections," said Sydecar cofounder and CEO Nik Talreja.