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§ Private Profile · 4 Embarcadero Ctr Fl 15, San Francisco, California, 94111, United States
Electronic trading platform enabling secondary share trading for individual and institutional investors in pre-IPO technology companies.
Based in San Francisco, Equidate operates an electronic trading platform that facilitates the buying and selling of shares in privately held, pre-IPO technology companies. The marketplace connects institutional investors, wealth managers, and family offices with shareholders seeking liquidity, processing over $1 billion in completed transaction volume. The company has raised $89 million in total venture funding, including an $85 million Series B round, to support its international expansion and a workforce of approximately 38 employees. Equidate is backed by early investors such as Tim Draper and Peter Thiel, providing access to secondary shares in late-stage private companies like Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX. The firm also operates an asset management arm called Equiam, which manages a fund tracking a proprietary index of major private technology equities. Equidate was established in 2014 by co-founder Sohail Prasad.
Equidate has raised $185.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Equidate.
Equidate has raised $185.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Equidate has raised $185.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Equidate's investors include Paul W. Hilgers, LUN Partners Group, Jane Atherton, C. Thomas Richardson, Peter Roeder.
Equidate has raised $185.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $150.0M Forge - Other Equity in May 2021.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2021 | $150M Venture Round | — | Paul W. Hilgers, LUN Partners Group, Jane Atherton, C. Thomas Richardson | Announced |
| Feb 4, 2019 | $35M Series B Plus | Peter Roeder | — | Announced |
Key people at Equidate.
Equidate is the former name of Forge Global (NYSE: FRGE), a financial technology company founded in 2014 that operates a leading marketplace for trading pre-IPO private company shares.[1][3][5] It provides liquidity solutions by connecting employees, shareholders, venture capitalists, and institutional investors with buyers, enabling secondary transactions in late-stage private firms like Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX, while offering data, indices, and insights for private market investments.[1][2][3] Forge serves individual accredited investors, institutions such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, and private companies, addressing the lack of liquidity in extended private markets where companies stay private longer before IPOs.[2][4][5] The platform has facilitated over $1 billion in transactions, raised $240.1M total funding, and went public via reverse merger with a current market cap of $0.17B.[1][3]
Equidate was founded in 2014 in San Francisco by Y Combinator alumni, with early backing from prominent investors including Tim Draper, Peter Thiel, and Scott Banister.[3][4] The idea emerged to create a global electronic trading platform for private company shares, targeting the growing need for liquidity among startup employees holding vested stock options and early investors in pre-IPO unicorns like Spotify, Snap, and Square.[2][3][7] Key early milestones included rapid growth in transaction volume, hitting $1 billion by 2019, and strategic hires like veteran fintech CEO Kelly Rodriques in 2018.[2][3] In January 2019, Equidate rebranded to Forge Global, expanded its Series B funding from $50M to $85M (with a prior $70M round led by Panorama Point Partners and Operative Capital), and launched the Forge Tech30 Capped Index and EQUIAM fund tracking 30 top private tech companies.[2][3][4]
Forge rides the trend of startups remaining private longer, fueled by abundant VC funding and regulatory shifts delaying IPOs, creating a massive secondary market for liquidity estimated in the trillions.[2][4] This timing aligns with rising demand from non-traditional investors like sovereign wealth funds and pension funds seeking pre-IPO exposure, as seen in Forge's handling of shares in now-public giants like Spotify and Lyft.[2][3] Market forces favoring Forge include technology enabling efficient, compliant trading outside legacy VC channels, plus data transparency via indices that benchmark private valuations against public markets.[3][5] It influences the ecosystem by democratizing access—empowering employees to cash out options, helping companies raise secondary capital without dilution risks, and providing analytics that inform investment decisions across the private tech sector.[1][2][4]
Forge is poised to capitalize on maturing private markets with its public status (post-IPO reverse merger) enabling scaled growth, deeper institutional adoption, and potential acquisitions in data or custody services.[1][5] Trends like AI-driven valuations, tokenized private assets, and global IPO pipelines will shape its path, amplifying demand for real-time pricing and indices amid volatile public markets.[5] Its influence may evolve from niche liquidity provider to infrastructure layer for private investing, potentially mirroring public exchanges as more unicorns extend private phases—building directly on its Equidate roots in unlocking shareholder value.[2][3]
