Roaring AI-Linked Debuts Drive Demand for Pre-IPO Shares.
A surge of interest in private companies, particularly those related to artificial intelligence, is driving more inquiries and trades on platforms offering accredited investors the chance to invest in pre-IPO names.
Trading volume on the private secondary market run by EquityZen Securities more than doubled in the third quarter versus a year ago, and the total value of buy orders on Rainmaker Securities’ platform rose more than three times from the first quarter.
Investor appetite is soaring for AI-related names, including both AI-native startups and established software as a service firms embedding AI into their offerings, with AI-related firms accounting for about a third of private stock trading.