Caplight

High-Level Overview

Caplight Technologies, Inc. is a financial technology company that builds a leading platform for private market data, trading, pricing, and sourcing tools, primarily serving venture capital firms, secondary funds, asset managers, hedge funds, and investment banks.[1][2][3] It offers real-time secondary market pricing via its MarketPrice™ model, comprehensive databases on over 20,000 VC-backed companies and 50,000+ investors, AI-powered sourcing with chat-based queries, and a marketplace with $5B+ in live buy/sell interest on private companies, enabling vetted counterparty connections and deal flow from 200+ brokers.[1][2][4] The platform addresses key pain points like sourcing (up to 1,000 hours/year per investor), pricing transparency, and liquidity in opaque private markets, with customers managing over $30 trillion in assets; recent growth includes the September 2025 launch of Caplight 2.0, expanding to 20,000+ companies and adding AI sourcing powered by $300B+ in proprietary transaction data.[2]

Origin Story

Caplight was founded in 2021 by Javier Avalos (CEO) and Justin Moore, with headquarters initially in Nashua, New Hampshire, later associating with San Francisco.[3][5] Avalos, highlighting the company's evolution, emphasized in 2025 how Caplight 2.0 shifts focus from secondary trading to comprehensive AI-driven sourcing and evaluation, building on earlier tools like Caplight Data (launched January 2023) for monitoring private valuations and trading activity.[2][3] Early traction stemmed from its goal to import public-market-like data, execution, and settlement into private markets via patented price discovery and structured products for hedging or positioning on private stock, attracting institutional users and enabling large investors' entry into VC.[1][3] Pivotal moments include scaling to $5B+ live interest, coverage of 25,000+ companies, and the 2025 AI platform beta amid rising demand for private market efficiency.[1][2]

Core Differentiators

Caplight stands out in private markets through these key strengths:

• Advanced Marketplace and Liquidity: Hosts $5B+ live buy/sell interest, instant vetted counterparty matching, and deal flow from 200+ institutional brokers, including secondary and primary co-investments—preferred by top asset managers.[1][4]
• Proprietary Pricing and Data: MarketPrice™ provides real-time, predictive pricing on hundreds of late-stage companies from secondary data, funding rounds, mutual fund marks, and performance signals; covers 20,000+ VC-backed firms (seed+), 50,000+ investors with profiles/portfolios, and $300B+ transaction history.[1][2][4]
• AI-Powered Sourcing and Workflows: Caplight 2.0's chat-based AI for thesis-driven searches, alerts, market signals from news/social, and funnel tracking (discovery to term sheet), reducing manual effort for VCs, secondaries, and managers.[2]
• Institutional-Grade Tools: Comprehensive tagging (business model, verticals), growth monitoring, research analytics for valuations/landscapes, and operating support like real-time alerts—trusted by firms managing $30T+ AUM, featured in TechCrunch, WSJ, and a16z.[1][2][4]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Caplight rides the democratization of private markets trend, where opacity in VC-backed valuations and liquidity hampers institutions amid $1T+ dry powder and lengthening hold periods for pre-IPO firms.[1][2][3] Timing aligns with post-2022 market resets, AI advancements enabling data synthesis (e.g., its 2025 sourcing engine), and regulatory pushes for transparency, positioning it to unlock capital flows into venture by mimicking public-market efficiency.[2][3] Favorable forces include surging secondary volumes ($100B+ annually), LP demand for liquidity, and growth in late-stage privates; Caplight influences the ecosystem by standardizing pricing (via MarketPrice™), accelerating deal funnels, and empowering non-traditional players like hedge funds, potentially expanding VC access beyond elite GPs.[1][4]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Caplight is poised to dominate private market infrastructure as AI refines data signals and secondaries grow to $200B+ volumes, with expansions like deeper AI workflows and global investor coverage driving 2-3x user growth.[2] Trends shaping it include tokenized privates, embedded finance in VC tools, and regulatory clarity on synthetics, evolving its role from data provider to full-stack exchange operator. Watch for partnerships with custodians or exchanges, scaling to public listings, amplifying its mission to reimagine private markets—starting from a niche trading platform to venture's indispensable nervous system.[1][2]