Robinhood unveiled its flagship private markets vehicle on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, listing a $658.4 million closed-end fund that provides retail investors with access to well-known privately held technology companies. The fund began trading under the ticker RVI and includes holdings in Databricks, Ramp and Revolut.
Private company investing has traditionally been dominated by major venture capital firms and institutional backers, leaving most retail investors without direct access to the segment even as valuations have climbed. Some privately held firms now carry price tags that compete with, or outstrip, publicly traded members of the S&P 500. For example, Databricks raised capital at a $134 billion valuation in February, and Ramp was valued at $32 billion in November.
Robinhood priced the fund's IPO at $25 per share and sold 12.6 million shares, a total that executives describe as below the initial target for the offering. The company noted that investor demand during the roadshow included institutional interest as well as retail participation.
"There is a big gap in the market where the retail customer cannot access private assets," Robinhood Chief Financial Officer Shiv Verma said in an interview. Verma added that the fund deliberately focuses on late-stage companies that the firm views as less risky than earlier-stage startups. "These are great investments, they’re going to do well and if there’s some short-term volatility in the interim, because it’s a closed-end fund, you’re not forced to sell," he said.
Verma also said the vehicle could eventually broaden its remit to include sectors such as energy, robotics, aerospace and defense. The company has expanded from its origins as a trading app aimed at individual investors into a wider financial services platform, a transition that has coincided with its market capitalization rising above $72 billion.
Market observers point to several risks tied to the new fund. Fluctuations in private-company valuations can be significant, and the venture capital exit market has been uneven in recent years amid slower initial public offering activity. In addition, overall investor appetite for new offerings has been mixed as markets navigate geopolitical uncertainty and technological disruption concerns.
The listing represents a notable move to bridge private and public market access, packaging stakes in late-stage private technology firms into a vehicle that individual investors can buy and sell on a public exchange.