What Is Robinhood Ventures?

Vlad Tenev says Robinhood Ventures is how individual investors can own private companies, including at the seed and Series A stage. He says he cannot persuade companies to go public earlier, even though Robinhood underwrites IPOs. The aim is that a startup cap table without retail investors becomes an anomaly.

Fund One is the structure he describes. Robinhood customers put capital in through an IPO on what he calls the largest retail channel for IPOs. That money is invested in startups, and the fund trades on the New York Stock Exchange like a stock. He says Fund One holds late-stage private companies, including OpenAI and Eleven Labs, along with other fintech and AI companies.