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What’s in Robinhood Ventures Fund I — and Should You Buy $RVI?

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev kicked off the IPO roadshow for the corporate’s first-ever enterprise fund immediately, calling it “the subsequent entrance in our mission to democratize finance for all.” Robinhood Ventures Fund I ($RVI) will give retail buyers entry to purchase shares in non-public corporations by way of a publicly traded closed-end fund, with no accreditation required.

The fund will commerce on the NYSE at an anticipated value of $25 per share, topic to SEC approvals. $RSI holds stakes in a concentrated portfolio of personal corporations together with Airwallex, Boom Supersonic, Databricks, Mercor, Oura, Ramp, and Revolut, with a pending deal to accumulate Stripe shares after the IPO closes.

“Opening up non-public markets will resolve one of many best longstanding inequities in capital markets immediately,” Tenev mentioned in the announcement.

The attraction: Anyone can make investments, with no accreditation necessities and no minimums. Goldman Sachs is working the books on a 40-million-share providing at $25 a pop, with a further 6-million-share overallotment possibility that would push the entire elevate north of $1 billion.

The timing isn’t random. Robinhood’s Q4 results have been a blended bag — income of $1.28 billion missed Wall Street estimates amid a crypto stoop, although EPS of $0.66 beat consensus. At the time, Tenev emphasised that the corporate stays absolutely centered on “constructing the Financial SuperApp.” That contains the providing of Robinhood prediction markets, which the corporate is engaged on bringing in-house in addition to the providing of contracts routed by way of Kalshi. Robinhood reported 8.5 billion event contracts traded on its platform in This autumn alone, and is positioning prediction markets as a core pillar of future development.

The Robinhood Ventures Fund is one other new development engine for buyer acquisition and retention. While $HOOD inventory remains to be down round 11% per week after the This autumn earnings name, the corporate is searching for a lift from new ventures like $RVI and growth of occasion contract buying and selling in the approaching months.

The aim of Robinhood Ventures Fund

Robinhood’s pitch rests on a structural shift that’s been constructing for twenty years. The variety of publicly traded U.S. corporations has dropped from near 7,000 in 2000 to about 4,000 in 2024, in accordance with World Bank knowledge. Meanwhile, non-public corporations are rising in each quantity and worth. There at the moment are greater than 6.5 instances as many non-public corporations as public ones, and the estimated worth of U.S. non-public corporations surpasses $10 trillion, per the Federal Reserve.

Companies are staying non-public longer, and by the point they IPO, a lot of the early development has already been captured by VCs and institutional buyers. Tenev has been vocal about this for months, telling senators in December that accredited investor guidelines “shut out north of 80% of the general public at the moment” from non-public market investments.

“For many years, rich individuals and establishments have invested in non-public corporations whereas retail buyers have been unfairly locked out,” Tenev mentioned when the fund was first announced in September 2025.

Roadshows are usually reserved for institutional buyers in closed convention rooms. In line with the aim of constructing retail buying and selling extra accessible, Robinhood livestreamed the whole announcement on YouTube, X, and the Robinhood app.

What’s in the $RVI portfolio

RVI calls its targets “Frontier Companies,” that means non-public corporations working at what the fund’s advisers contemplate the chopping fringe of their industries. The preliminary lineup contains:

  • Databricks — Enterprise AI and knowledge analytics platform valued at $134 billion in its final funding spherical. One of probably the most sought-after non-public tech corporations globally.
  • Stripe — The funds big. RVI has signed an settlement to buy Stripe shares that’s anticipated to shut after the IPO. Stripe’s reported valuation is approaching $140 billion.
  • Revolut — UK-based fintech super-app with a banking license and over 45 million clients worldwide.
  • Ramp — Corporate expense administration platform that’s been one of many fastest-growing SaaS corporations in latest years.
  • Boom Supersonic — Developing Overture, a Mach 1.7 industrial airliner. A wager on the return of supersonic passenger journey.
  • Oura — The good ring maker that’s change into a dominant participant in shopper well being wearables.
  • Airwallex — Global funds and monetary infrastructure firm with a powerful Asia-Pacific presence.
  • Mercor — AI-powered hiring platform. The least recognizable title on the listing, and arguably the highest-risk, highest-upside decide.

The fund plans to carry positions by way of IPO and past, and Robinhood says further corporations might be added over time.

The payment construction

This is the place RVI will get attention-grabbing relative to present choices. The administration payment is 2.00% of web property yearly, nevertheless it’s lower to 1.00% for the primary six months post-IPO. There is not any efficiency payment, a notable departure from the “2 and 20” construction that dominates conventional enterprise capital (VC).

For context: Cathie Wood’s ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), the closest comparable product for retail buyers, carries a web expense ratio of two.90% and a gross expense ratio of 4.71%. ARK’s fund additionally doesn’t commerce on an change: buyers can solely redeem by way of a quarterly repurchase coverage of 5-25% of fund property. Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ), which does commerce on the NYSE, has traditionally traded at monumental premiums to its web asset worth (NAV), at one level exceeding 2,000% above NAV in 2024.

RVI’s exchange-listed construction with day by day liquidity, no efficiency payment, and a briefly discounted administration payment is a transparent play to undercut each.

How it differs from ETFs

RVI just isn’t an ETF. It’s a closed-end fund, which suggests the share value can (and doubtless will) deviate from the web asset worth of its underlying holdings. If demand for RVI shares is high, it may commerce at a premium to NAV. If sentiment sours, it may commerce at a reduction. There is not any redemption mechanism: if you would like out, you promote your shares on the open market like all inventory.

The fund can also be non-diversified and concentrated. Individual positions can characterize as much as 20% of property on the time of buy. Robinhood’s personal disclosure is blunt: “An funding in the Fund is speculative and entails a high diploma of danger with substantial danger of loss.”

This just isn’t a financial savings account with a enterprise capital label. The underlying portfolio corporations are illiquid, laborious to worth, and might by no means have a liquidity occasion.

The OpenAI drawback and what Robinhood discovered

It’s price noting what didn’t make the portfolio. Robinhood’s earlier try at non-public market entry, tokenized non-public firm shares in the EU, drew a public rebuke from OpenAI, which identified that token holders weren’t really shopping for fairness in the corporate. The tokens have been pegged to cost, not possession.

RVI takes a extra standard strategy. It’s a registered funding firm beneath the Investment Company Act of 1940, submitting a normal Form N-2 with the SEC. The fund really holds fairness in its portfolio corporations — not derivatives, not tokens, not artificial publicity. Robinhood seems to have discovered from the EU controversy and gone the standard route this time.

Q&A: What buyers have to learn about RVI

Who can make investments in RVI?

Anyone. Unlike conventional enterprise capital funds, RVI doesn’t require buyers to be accredited (the SEC designation that usually requires a $1 million web price or $200,000 annual revenue). There are additionally no funding minimums. You may theoretically purchase a single share at $25.

How do I purchase shares?

Before the IPO, Robinhood clients can request shares by way of the corporate’s IPO Access function. After the fund begins buying and selling on the NYSE beneath ticker RVI, shares could be purchased and bought by way of Robinhood or every other brokerage, identical to a daily inventory.

What’s a closed-end fund, and how is it completely different from an ETF?

A closed-end fund points a hard and fast variety of shares by way of an IPO. Those shares then commerce on an change at market costs decided by provide and demand, not on the fund’s web asset worth. Unlike an ETF, there’s no creation/redemption mechanism to maintain the value anchored to NAV. This means RVI may commerce at a premium or low cost to the precise worth of its holdings.

What are the charges?

The annual administration payment is 2.00% of web property, diminished to 1.00% for the primary six months. There is not any efficiency payment (additionally referred to as carried curiosity in the VC world). For comparability, a standard enterprise capital fund usually expenses 2% administration plus 20% of income.

Will RVI pay dividends?

Robinhood says the fund “doesn’t anticipate that it’s going to pay dividends on a quarterly foundation or change into a predictable distributor of dividends.” This is a development car, not an revenue play.

What’s the most important danger?

The portfolio holds illiquid non-public firm stakes which might be tough to worth. The fund has zero working historical past. It’s concentrated in a small variety of positions. And as a closed-end fund, the share value is topic to market sentiment unbiased of the portfolio’s precise efficiency. If the non-public market cools or one in every of these corporations stumbles, buyers may face losses on each the underlying property and the share value.

How does RVI examine to ARK Venture Fund?

ARK Venture (ARKVX) can also be a closed-end fund that provides retail buyers entry to non-public corporations like Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI. But ARKVX doesn’t commerce on an change; you’ll be able to solely exit by way of quarterly repurchase home windows, and there’s no assure you’ll get the complete quantity you wish to promote. ARKVX additionally expenses a better expense ratio (2.90% web). RVI affords day by day liquidity by way of change buying and selling and decrease charges, nevertheless it comes with the trade-off that share costs can swing based mostly on market demand, whatever the portfolio’s precise worth.

How does it examine to Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ)?

DXYZ can also be a closed-end fund buying and selling on the NYSE that holds non-public tech corporations. But DXYZ has been stricken by wild premium-to-NAV swings — it traded at greater than 20x its underlying worth in early 2024. RVI’s bigger providing dimension (40 million shares) and Goldman Sachs underwriting might present extra share provide to assist average premiums, however there’s no assure.

When will RVI begin buying and selling?

The registration assertion remains to be pending SEC approval. Robinhood says the IPO is anticipated “in the approaching weeks.” The SEC should declare the registration efficient earlier than any shares could be bought.

Should I purchase shares in $RVI?

That relies upon solely in your danger tolerance, funding objectives, and whether or not you consider these particular non-public corporations will outperform what you may obtain with commonplace index funds. Private market entry is genuinely one thing retail buyers haven’t had a lot of, however the motive for that isn’t simply gatekeeping. These investments carry actual illiquidity danger, valuation uncertainty, and the potential for whole loss. This is a speculative funding, not a core portfolio holding.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational functions solely and doesn’t represent funding recommendation.

The submit What’s in Robinhood Ventures Fund I — and Should You Buy $RVI? appeared first on DeFi Rate.

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