pre-ipo-investing
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Linqto Built a $1,000 Door Into Unicorns. Then the Door Jammed.
Linqto turned private-company investing into something that looked almost like online shopping. Its rise - and its Chapter 11 restructuring - shows both the appeal and the hidden plumbing of fintech access.
EquityZen Built a Waiting Room for the IPO - Then Morgan Stanley Bought the Door
For 13 years, EquityZen has turned startup stock - awkward, restricted and stubbornly illiquid - into something more people can transact. Its new owner, Morgan Stanley, is betting that the private market needs plumbing as much as it needs picks.
Equitybee
Equitybee is a financial technology marketplace that connects startup employees who can't afford to exercise their vested stock options with accredited investors willing to fund the exercise in exchange for a share of the future upside. Founded in 2017 by three childhood friends and headquartered in Palo Alto, the platform lets employees convert paper equity into real ownership - or cash - without waiting for an IPO, while giving investors a rare way to buy into pre-IPO companies they otherwise couldn't reach.