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EquityZen
Marketplace for pre-IPO shares
- 21-100 employees
- Fintech
- Marketplace
- Investing
- Trading
- Financial Services
- Financial District, New York, NY
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Company mission
To help shareholders in proven, private tech companies get liquidity for their illiquid company stock while giving investors access to this new asset class.
47% employee growth in 12 months
Our take
EquityZen is a financial services platform connecting investors with employee shareholders at private companies. The former get the opportunity to invest in pre-IPO assets, and the latter get the opportunity to make cash from an otherwise illiquid employment benefit. It’s a model that’s helped EquityZen establish itself as a strong player in the private shares market for nearly a decade now.
Pre-market shares have been hot property in the past, however, some report that a stagnancy in the IPO market has investors taking their interest elsewhere - they don’t want wealth locked into IPOs that may take years to arrive. It’s left EquityZen with a preponderance of shareholders on the platform, and that’s pushing down private share prices.
This, however, may be on the mend - some suggest IPOs are back on the horizon after traversing an understandably rocky patch over Covid. Moreover, EquityZen sellers are offering some impressive and high demand pre-market shares: think Byte Dance Ltd, and SpaceX. So this will likely insulate the company until demand picks up again. Further bolstering the company's upward trajectory is its award for Best Retail Investment Company at the 2023 FinTech Breakthrough Awards.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Benefits
- 401k match
- Strong career progression paths are available for all tracks including individual contributors and aspiring managers
- Competitive salary
- Stocked fridge, supply of snacks, weekly catered lunch
- Equity
- Flexible paid time off
- Professional development and wellness budget
- Hybrid/Remote work environment for engineering members with an emphasis on work-life balance
- Full employee benefits (health, dental, vision)
Company values
- Be Human
- Be Ready to Teach + Learn
- Be an Inspiring Team Player
- Be Resilient but Humble
- Be Ethical
- Own It
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Jul 2017
$3m
SERIES B
Dec 2016
$1.8m
EARLY VC
Total funding: $13.3m
This company has top investors
Leadership
Atish Davda
(CEO)Worked as a research analyst with AQR Capital Management, then went on to co-found and serve as CTO at Knolsoft. Held a VP role for product at Ampush, and has spoken and consulted for Dropbox, GeneralAssembly, and Wharton.
Phil Haslett
(Chief Strategy Officer)Started his career at Barclays Capital in their Proprietary Trading group trading credit and equity derivatives. Subsequently was a Vice President at Pomelo Capital, a NYC-based hedge fund, focusing on capital structure arbitrage.