EquityZen Review: They are a unique New York-based brokerage, part of a growing group of alternative online investment and crowdfunding platforms. It offers its retail users venture capital opportunities to invest in privately held companies. These are late-stage but pre-IPO investments with significant upside potential. For this, you must be an accredited investor with a minimum deposit of $10,000.
Each investment requires a minimum of $10,000. Additionally, investors must know that their funds will be locked for two to five years, and such assets have low liquidity. This EquityZen review may be your place if you are in this market.
Yes, EquityZen is a legitimate company. Unfortunately, you can’t trade them on the stock market. However, their concept is pretty neat. They’re an alternative brokerage. In this EquityZen review, we found they’re a place to find pre-IPO companies. In other words, companies aren’t trading on the stock market yet.
Remember that a company that hasn’t IPO’d yet is not necessarily the best investment. So you may want to wait to see how the company does when live. Or be ready to sit through a rollercoaster. Just look at Uber.
EquityZen’s online platform allows retail investors to find pre-IPO companies for investment, usually only available to insiders and employees. These investments are still only available to those meeting specific required criteria. EquityZen can do this by purchasing shares from current company stakeholders (who pay EquityZen a 5% fee and receive cash). Not publicly traded, these shares are generally illiquid; EquityZen pays the shareholder cash and then resells the shares to EquityZen retail investors.
EquityZen Features
EquityZen’s investments are primarily tech businesses in their late-stage, likely to have an IPO (or similar) soon, provided their given track record and operating history. As a result, only accredited Investors can view the list of EquityZen’s offerings and review any previous rounds’ financing data, share price performance, and other company information.
Availability of these investments relies on sellers of private shares and the company’s approval. Currently, EquityZen has 16 assets available, with others on a waitlist. They also have preview investments that allow investors to express their interest and will likely gain shareholders’ and the company’s confidence in the investment. Included in the assets are established tech companies with known brands.
These assets are made available to EquityZen clients with a legal and financial trick. The seller provides stock to EquityZen, and a Special-Purpose Entity (SPE) LLC is created to hold the stock.
EquityZen’s investors purchase a membership interest in the SPE LLC. Investors receive the company shares in their brokerage accounts if/when the IPO happens and after the lockup period. For the duration of the SPE-LLC, investors receive an annual K-1 tax statement. Each investment has a one-time fee ranging from 3-5% in addition to the amount of investment (like a transaction fee) paid to EquityZen. After this fee, there are no carried interest or AUM fees.
EquityZen also offers curated funds that provide investment in 4-25 pre-IPO companies with the purchase of a single asset–claiming historical fund returns of 15 to 25% for a $20,000 minimum investment in these funds.
COURSE |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| DESCRIPTION | Learn how to read penny stock charts, premarket preparation, target buy and sell zones, scan for stocks to trade, and get ready for live day trading action | Learn how to buy and sell options, assignment options, implement vertical spreads, and the most popular strategies, and prepare for live options trading | How to read futures charts, margin requirements, learn the COT report, indicators, and the most popular trading strategies, and prepare for live futures trading |
| INCLUDED | Daily watch lists • Trade rooms • Trading scanners • Discord • Live streaming Day Trading > | Daily watch lists • Trade rooms • Options scanners • Discord • Live streaming Options > | Futures target levels • Trade rooms • Real time teaching • Discord • Live streaming Futures > |
Pre-IPO Startups
An EquityZen review of what you need to be eligible for their pre-IPO investment participation, you must first qualify as an “Accredited Investor.” To do so, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires all U.S. or international investors to meet one of the following and show proof of such:
- In each of the prior two years, you have earned over $200,000 AND expect to do the same this year.
- In each of the prior two years, you and your spouse’s combined income was over $300,000, AND expect this year’s income to be the same.
- Your net worth or the combined net worth of you and our spouse meets or exceeds $1 million, EXCLUDING your primary residence’s value.
EquityZen Fees and Pricing Review
An EquityZen review of their pricing shows they charge sellers a 5% fee when closing their transactions. If your sales are larger, you could get a break from the charge of the fee. It could be less than the 5% fee. That doesn’t mean buying larger blocks, however. If you’re worried about the fee, keep practicing instead of using real money. That way, you can feel comfortable when you’re trading real money.
Risks and Protections
EquityZen’s companies are high-risk/reward private companies. As of June 2020, returns for the 250 companies offered have ranged between a 100% loss and a positive 450%. Most provide no expectation of dividends, payments, or cash flow, with the potential to lose all of their value. Startup investing is a numbers game, with a minority of investors able to obtain high rewards while many others fizzle. The best results are those that can diversify and are successful in selection. This requires significant funding and relationships with companies that most investors don’t have.
EquityZen is a registered FINRA broker-dealer subject to due diligence requirements, ensuring the suitability of investments for their clients. Note this does not guarantee returns. Their investments are SEC Reg D and, therefore, meet special rules to provide exemptions but not traditional SEC-registered assets and are thus only available to accredited investors.
Final Thoughts: EquityZen Review
We hope you enjoyed this EquityZen review. For accredited investors with the necessary funding, EquityZen is an excellent place for retail investors to access pre-IPO late-stage investments that would otherwise not be available. After researching, the safest strategy choice would be with a well-diversified portfolio of approximately 12-14 companies. Such a strategy would cost a minimum of about $126,000 with fees and require significant research into companies without much information. One could alternatively invest in one of EquityZen’s curated funds for a minimum of $20,000+fees; EquityZen’s relationships with the offered companies and employee access may make this the better option.
As always, make sure never to invest in a single asset more than you can afford to lose, and good luck with all of your trades.
Frequently Asked Questions
Investors cannot purchase shares of EquityZen because they are a private company.
EquityZen is a marketplace for accessing Pre-IPO equity. People can invest in or sell shares via EquityZen funds.
The minimum investment for EquityZen is $10,000.
Investors can sell their shares on EquityZen by filling out an electronic form, clicking sell, price, and number of shares.
EquityZen has a $175,000 minimum sale size. Sharespost has a $100,000 minimum sale size. EquityZen has a simpler marketplace experience, whereas Sharespost has a feature-rich experience.
EquityZen has an annual revenue of $10 million.
