Private company shares have never been more public, and it is creating a three-way tension which is reshaping private markets.
Employees at unicorn startups need cash now, because mortgages and school fees don’t wait for IPOs. Private companies want to control their cap tables and avoid regulatory complexity. Secondary market platforms see opportunity in the gap, facilitating trades that companies often view as unauthorised.
The numbers reveal the scale of this mismatch. Only 37 venture-backed companies went public in the US last year, while approximately 189 private companies raised rounds of USD100 million ($153 million) or more.
For tech companies that completed an IPO in 2023-24, the median age at listing is about 10–13 years — roughly double the 5–6 year median seen in 2000. Employees who joined at Series A now face real financial pressures while sitting on illiquid paper wealth.
