Consider Giving Your Clients Meaningful Access To The Private Market Window Ahead Of The Coming IPO Wave

By Renato Leggi, CFA, CAIA

Director of Global Strategic Partnerships

As Director of Global Strategic Partnerships, Renato “Ren” focuses on identifying, cultivating, and fostering global strategic relationship pivotal for the firm’s growth.

Financial advisors’ clients are posing the same question with increasing urgency: how do I get exposure to SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks? For the first time in a generation, private companies that have reshaped entire industries are getting closer to the public markets. The opportunity is real, but so is the risk of arriving too late. 

The ARK Venture Fund was built for this moment. It offers investors direct to cap table access to some of the most consequential private companies in the world—before they list, before public markets reprice the opportunity, and before venture stage compounding becomes someone else's return. 

The most significant wealth creation in the SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic stories has not occurred on a public exchange. By the time those names list, the venture stage appreciation will belong to those who were positioned in private markets.

• $2T SpaceX target IPO valuation
• 6+ portfolio companies in active IPO pipeline 
• 20% Fund weight in SpaceX and OpenAI alone

Source: Yahoo! Finance, SpaceX Targets $75 Billion IPO at Up to $2 Trillion Valuation, as of May 22, 2026. ARK Venture Fund Holdings Data Source: ARK Invest, as of May 31, 2026. Holdings and portfolio weights are subject to change.  

The IPO Date Is Not the Starting Line

The companies capturing the most client interest have been compounding quietly for years in private markets. SpaceX was valued at $350 billion in 2024, and by 2025 the figure reached $800 billion. Following its merger with xAI and its confidential U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing in April 2026, the combined entity is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) valuation of up to $2 trillion—essentially a 6x move achieved entirely in private markets before a single share trades publicly.

A client who buys SpaceX on the day it lists on Nasdaq is not buying early, but in the wake of years of compounding to which public markets were never given access—at least until the ARK Venture Fund came into being.

SpaceX valuation milestones achieved in private markets. The green bars represent value created entirely before public trading begins. Source: publicly available funding disclosures. For illustrative purposes only. Historical private market valuations and future valuation targets are not a guarantee of future stock profitability. Once a company goes public via an IPO it’s stock price is set by various market factors, including but not limited to, supply and demand, company performance, economic conditions and geopolitical events.

The same dynamic applies across the cohort. OpenAI crossed $25 billion in annualized revenue as a private company. Anthropic exceeded $30 billion before filing a single document with the SEC. Those are not speculative bets on unproven technology but mature, fast growing platforms whose most explosive phase of value creation has occurred entirely beyond the reach of public market investors.

Revenue and Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) achieved by key ARK Venture Fund holdings while still private, as of Q1 2026. These businesses reached public market scale before going public. Source: publicly available company disclosures. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of, and does not guarantee, future results.

What The ARK Venture Fund Holds Across Today’s IPO Pipeline

As of May 31, 2026, the ARK Venture Fund holds 21 public names and 53 private companies, several of which are in the most active IPO preparation period in the fund's history. Illustrating a central insight, the chart below reveals that the majority of value creation for high growth innovation companies typically occurs during the private stage. Public market investors entering at IPO participate in what remains, not what has been building.

Stylized illustration of value accrual across a company lifecycle. The green area represents value created in private markets that the ARK Venture Fund seeks to capture. The amber area represents value remaining at the point of IPO for public market investors. For illustrative purposes only. Not based on actual fund or company performance data. The percentages shown are not performance numbers, but rather the percentage of value available in each stage of the company lifecycle.

Valuation Sources: Yahoo! Finance, CNBC, and BioWorld News. Holdings as of 05/31/2026. IPO timelines based on publicly available information and management discussions. Subject to change. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any specific security. A Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) is a publicly traded shell company created for the sole purpose of raising money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to buy an existing private company, thus taking the private company public.

The ARK Venture Fund IPO pipeline showing fund weight versus estimated valuation. Purple indicates a formal filing or SPAC agreement in place. Amber indicates active preparation. Bubble size reflects portfolio weight. Source: publicly available information as of Q1 2026. Estimated private company valuations are not an indication or guarantee of post-IPO public stock profitability.

Riding Through The Transition Is A Structural Advantage

One of the most underappreciated features of the ARK Venture Fund is its crossover structure. As an evergreen fund, the ARK Venture Fund can hold companies before, during, and after their IPO, its exposure continuing seamlessly across the transition. As a result, Advisors do not need to facilitate a capital redeployment at listing, a structural advantage whose importance should be fully appreciated. 

IPOs can be volatile events. The pricing window can be brief, post-listing lock up expiries can create supply overhang, and the first months of public trading can be riddled with noise that obscures the underlying financial trajectory. The ARK Venture Fund’s quarterly liquidity feature helps to position investors to hold through that volatility as long term investors.

The ARK Venture Fund Is Prepared For This Moment

01  Direct Cap Table Access, Not Secondaries

The ARK Venture Fund holds its private positions through direct relationships. It does not use special purpose vehicles (SPVs) or secondary intermediaries that add layers of fees and valuation premiums. Instead, investors get clean, direct to cap table exposure at the terms enjoyed by the big institutions. 

02  Crossover Structure: Private Through Public

As an evergreen crossover fund, the ARK Venture Fund holds companies before, during, and after their IPO. Investors do not need to redeploy capital at listing. Exposure continues seamlessly across the public market transition. 

03  Democratized Access From $500

Traditional venture access to names like SpaceX is restricted to accredited institutions. The ARK Venture Fund opens that opportunity to a broad investor base with a minimum investment of $500 via SoFi, Titan, Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, and more. 

04  Transparent, Third Party Audited Valuations

ARK uses a consistent and transparent pricing methodology tied to fundamentals, audited by a third party. This gives advisors and their clients confidence in the fund’s net asset value (NAV) on which they are acting, a standard not often found in the venture space. 

The Advisor Conversation: Clients Are Already Asking

As their clients seek greater clarity on their options for participating the upcoming IPO filings of SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, The ARK Venture Fund gives Advisors a clear and compelling answer to give them. 

Key Facts to Inform Your Advisor-Client Conversation 

*The net expense ratio of 2.90% takes into account contractual fee waivers/expense reimbursements that currently are scheduled to remain in place indefinitely but may be terminated sooner by the Board of Trustees of the Fund, upon sixty (60) days’ written notice to the Adviser.

In Summary

The IPO wave building across the innovation economy is real. Several of the ARK Venture Fund’s largest holdings are actively preparing for public listings. The most important insight for advisors? The value that will attract headlines at IPO has been accruing in private markets for years. The ARK Venture Fund is the vehicle that has sought to capture that appreciation on behalf of investors who act before the public market repricing. 

We believe that advisor’s clients should not wait for the IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, or Databricks. Better access to their value leads directly through the ARK Venture Fund. 

Important Information 

Holdings subject to change. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any specific security. For most up to date ARK Venture Fund holdings, please click here. 

BEFORE INVESTING YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FUND’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, RISKS, CHARGES AND EXPENSES. THIS AND OTHER INFORMATION IS IN THE PROSPECTUS, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED HERE. PLEASE READ THE PROSPECTUS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU INVEST. 

There is no assurance that the Fund will meet its investment objective. The value of your investment in the Fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment in the Fund, may fluctuate significantly. You may lose part or all of your investment in the Fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. Therefore, you should consider carefully the risks at the bottom of this page before investing in the Fund. 

The ARK Venture Fund invests in private, early-stage companies that may be considered highly speculative. As a result, an investment in the Fund involves substantial risks including risks associated with uncertainty regarding the valuations of private company investments, high rate of failure among the early-stage companies, and restricted liquidity in securities of such companies. 

The ARK Venture Fund is a continuously-offered, non-diversified, registered closed-end fund with limited liquidity. You should not expect to be able to sell your Shares in the ARK Venture Fund other than through the Fund’s repurchase policy, regardless of how the Fund performs. The Fund’s Shares will not be listed on any securities exchange, and the Fund does not expect a secondary market in the Shares to develop. 

ARK Investment Management LLC is the investment adviser to the ARK Venture Fund. 

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