The venture secondaries market has long been a mystery to stakeholders in the ecosystem, mostly driven by the small number of firms that actively pursue VC secondaries deals.
Compared with private equity secondaries, the venture secondaries market is relatively unknown to GPs and LPs alike. Industry Ventures, a 25-year veteran in the VC secondaries market, produced a report in 2022 that estimated the size of the venture secondaries market would reach $138 billion in 2023, though due to the typically private nature of secondaries deals, it is difficult to gauge the size of the market today.
With so little publicized on the topic and a total of just three new entrants finding any relative success in the past two years, many GPs and LPs searching for liquidity are limited by their lack of knowledge of who to talk to.
This list of firms that tout VC secondaries as a dedicated strategy, ordered alphabetically, is Venture Capital Journal’s maiden attempt to rectify this issue. All information was pulled from firm websites, press releases, regulatory filings, news articles, affiliate title Secondaries Investor and sources at the firms.
Ballast Equity Partners
AUM: $78m
Dedicated secondaries capital: $78m
HQ: Providence, Rhode Island
Founded: 2022
Website: ballastequitypartners.com
Strategies: Direct secondaries, LP interests
Latest VC secondaries fund: Ballast held a first close at $78 million for Ballast Equity Partners I in December 2023; the fund is targeting $100 million
Transaction types: Strip sales, LP fund interests, LP portfolio sales, founder equity stakes, GP stakes
Transaction range: $500,000-$5 million for direct company interests; $1 million-$20 million for fund interests
Key team members: Jon Popielarski, David Martirano
Ballast Equity Partners is a dedicated venture secondaries investor, investing in both LP fund interests and direct company stakes. The firm was founded in 2022 by Jon Popielarski, former director of private assets at Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, and David Martirano, a managing partner of PJC, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. Ballast held a first close on $78 million in December 2023 for its debut fund, Ballast Equity Partners I, which is targeting $100 million. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board committed $30 million to the vehicle.
E1 Ventures
AUM: $20m
Dedicated secondaries capital: $20m
HQ: San Francisco
Founded: 2023
Website: e1.vc
Strategies: Direct and LP interests
Latest VC secondaries fund: E1 closed on $20 million across “up to 10” SPVs, according to firm founder and general partner Ana Levine.
Transaction types: Direct secondaries, LP interests
Key team members: Ana Levine
E1 Ventures is an emerging manager focused on both venture secondaries and multi-stage direct investments in deep tech companies in the US. The firm raised $20 million across a number of special purpose vehicles to invest in venture secondaries on a deal-by-deal basis and is currently raising an early-stage fund targeting $30 million. E1 plans to start investing in direct secondaries in the coming months. So far, it has only invested in LP-led secondaries deals.
Hamilton Lane
AUM: $920.7bn
Secondaries capital raised, 2018-2023: $10.68bn*
HQ: Conshohocken, Pennsylvania
Founded: 1991
Website: hamiltonlane.com
SI 50, 2023 ranking: 13
Strategies: Direct secondaries, LP interests, GP-led
Latest VC secondaries fund: closed on $5.6 billion for its sixth flagship secondaries fund, which the firm said is “flexible” in terms of committing to secondaries deals across asset classes. Also held a second close on $131.36 million for its debut dedicated venture secondaries fund in November 2023
Transaction types: LP interests, strip sales, tender offers, direct secondaries
Transaction range: Hamilton Lane typically engages in VC secondary transactions between $10 million and $100 million but has the capability to do both smaller and larger deals
Sample deals: Not available
Key team members: Antony Anastasiadis, Keith Brittain, Raj Chall, Ryan Cooney, Tom Kerr, Miguel Luiña, Matthew Pellini, Dennis Scharf, Ryan Smith
Hamilton Lane is a global asset manager with strategies across private equity, venture capital, growth equity, debt, funds of funds and secondaries investments. The firm has amassed more than $900 billion in AUM with a portion of that going towards private equity and venture capital secondaries. Hamilton Lane is currently raising its first dedicated venture secondaries fund, Hamilton Lane Venture Access Fund I, which held a second close on $131.36 million in November 2023.
Industry Ventures
AUM: $8bn
Secondaries capital raised, 2018-2023: $2.49bn*
HQ: San Francisco
Founded: 2000
SI 50, 2023 ranking: 35
Strategies: Fund investments, secondaries, direct investments
Latest VC secondaries fund: Closed on $1.45 billion for Industry Ventures Secondary X in September 2023, with LPs including the Los Angeles Water and Power Employees’ Retirement Plan, the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board
Transaction types: LP interests, continuation funds, direct secondaries, founder stakes
Sample deal: Industry Ventures and StepStone Group partnered to acquire 12 percent of tech investor Group 11’s second fund for $20 million in December 2023; it is unclear how the fund shares were divided between the two firms
Key team members: Hans Swildens, Justin Burden, Roland Reynolds, Amir Malayery, Jonathan Roosevelt, Lindsay Sharma, Ira Simkhovitch
Industry Ventures is a multi-stage venture investor and fund of funds manager. The firm invests directly in companies, funds, secondary transactions and lower mid-market tech buyout funds. Firm founder Hans Swildens told Venture Capital Journal that demand was so strong for Industry’s 10th VC secondaries fund, it could have raised upwards of $2.5 billion. At $1.45 billion, Industry Ventures Secondary X is still 70 percent larger than its predecessor, which closed on $850 million in 2021.
Isomer Capital
AUM: €542.5m
Dedicated secondaries capital: €20m
HQ: London
Founded: 2015
Website: isomercapital.com
Strategies: Direct secondaries, LP interests, LP stakes
Latest VC secondaries fund: Isomer held a first close in April on €20 million for Isomer Secondaries I, which is targeting €100 million
Transaction types: Direct secondaries, GP-led secondaries, LP-led secondaries, LP fund interests
Transaction range: €1 million- €10 million
Key team members: Joe Schorge, Chris Wade
Isomer Capital is a Europe-focused fund of funds manager expanding into secondaries investing. It primarily focuses on investing in early-stage fund managers across Europe, such as Connect Ventures, First Capital, Karma Ventures, Kindred Capital, Seedcamp and Zero Carbon Capital. Isomer also pursues secondary deals, buying both GP and LP interests in companies and funds. Isomer has closed on roughly €414 million across three funds for its fund of funds strategy, €100 million for an opportunity fund and €20 million in a first close for its debut dedicated secondaries fund, which is targeting €100 million.
Launchbay Capital
AUM: $300m
Dedicated secondaries capital: $25m
HQ: London
Founded: 2018
Strategies: Direct secondaries and investments
Transaction types: Small single-asset secondary transactions; it does not buy fund stakes or do GP- or LP-led secondary deals
Transaction range: $1 million-$10 million
Key team members: Alan Vaksman, Benjamin Funk
Launchbay Capital, formerly known as Digital Horizon, is a multi-stage venture investor targeting both direct investments and direct secondaries in fintech and software infrastructure companies in Europe and Israel. It invests from an early-stage fund as well as a dedicated secondaries fund. The firm has held a first close on $25 million for its secondaries fund, which is targeting $100 million.
Lexington Partners
AUM: $75bn
Secondaries capital raised, 2018-2023: $26.8bn*
HQ: New York
Founded: 1994
SI 50, 2023 ranking: 4
Strategies: Direct secondaries, LP-fund interests
Transaction types: Direct secondaries, GP-led secondaries, LP fund interests
Key team members: Tom Newby, Jennifer Kheng, Matt Hodan
Lexington Partners is a multi-stage private equity and venture capital investor engaging in co-investments, fund investments and both direct secondaries investments and fund stakes. The firm describes itself as a counterparty to the private assets ecosystem, providing opportunities to LPs that need to rebalance their portfolios, adhere to government regulations, reset due to overallocation or just need liquidity. Lexington Partners has collected more than $66 billion of dedicated secondaries capital across both private equity and venture capital secondaries, according to its website.
Lightspeed Venture Partners
AUM: $25bn
Dedicated secondaries capital: N/A
HQ: Menlo Park, California
Founded: 2000
Website: https://lsvp.com/
Strategies: Direct secondaries, direct investments
Latest VC secondaries fund: Lightspeed does not have a dedicated secondaries fund. Instead, it does secondaries deals via its $2.36 billion growth fund.
Transaction types: Direct secondaries
Sample deals: In the past three years, Lightspeed has spent $580 million on venture secondaries deals, including buying shares in defense tech group Anduril, software company Rippling and payments platform Stripe.
Key team members: Jack Fowler, Michael Romano
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture investor specializing in companies in the enterprise, health, fintech and consumer industries. The firm has recently started pursuing venture secondaries deals, devoting 20 percent of its $2.36 billion growth fund closed in 2022 to secondaries deals. Lightspeed does not mention venture secondaries as a specific strategy on its website, however it has applied to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to become a “registered investment adviser,” which would allow it to use more than 20 percent of its funds to trade secondary markets.
NewView Capital
AUM: $2.6bn
Dedicated secondaries capital: $488m
HQ: Burlingame, California
Founded: 2018
Website: https://www.nvc.vc/
Strategies: Direct secondaries, direct investments
Latest VC secondaries fund: NewView is currently raising its third secondaries fund, NewView Capital Opportunities Fund III, targeting $300 million.
Transaction types: Direct secondaries, strip sales
Sample deals: In 2018 NewView acquired a portfolio of companies from New Enterprise Associates for $1.35 billion, including stakes in consumer genetic testing company 23andMe, accounting practice management software developer Canopy, mobile language learning platform Duolingo and mobile ridesharing platform Uber.
Key team members: Tim Connor, Ben Fu, Ankit Sud, Ravi Viswanathan
NewView Capital is a primary and secondary venture investor targeting growth-stage companies in the SaaS, fintech, consumer internet and artificial intelligence industries. The firm has closed on just over $1.5 billion across two funds for its primary investing strategy and just under $500 million across two funds for its secondary strategy. It is currently raising a primary investing fund targeting $350 million and a secondary investing fund targeting $300 million. NewView’s opportunity funds are raised to invest in “baskets of portfolios being liquidated” by other venture firms.
Pinegrove Capital Partners
AUM: $1bn
Dedicated secondaries capital: $1bn
HQ: Menlo Park, California
Founded: 2023
Strategies: Provides “customized and scalable secondary liquidity solutions for venture/growth GPs and LPs and focuses on investing into leading mid- to late-stage private technology companies”
Latest VC secondaries fund: Currently fundraising for Pinegrove Capital Partners I LP, which is reportedly targeting $2 billion
Transaction types: GP solutions include continuation funds, partial or full acquisition of legacy companies, fund restructurings, NAV loans, secondary share purchases and partnerships to provide new primary capital; LP solutions include purchase or financing of LP interests, direct co-investments and unfunded commitments
Transaction range: At least $50 million
Sample deal: Pinegrove entered into an agreement to acquire the investment platform business of SVB Financial Group, SVB Capital, in May 2024; the firm declined to provide details
Key team members: Brian Laibow, Gaurav Mathur
Backed by Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Capital’s wealth management arm, Pinegrove is targeting $2 billion for its debut fund. A brochure included with the firm’s Form ADV states that Pinegrove “provides discretionary management for funds with an overall emphasis on investing in high-quality, late-stage private technology companies. Pinegrove intends to draw upon a large set of liquidity solutions, including equity investments and structured financings, as well as GP- and LP-facing transactions, to gain exposure to its target companies at attractive risk-adjusted returns.” While Pinegrove’s initial strategy will focus on late-stage private tech companies, the brochure noted that it “may expand into other markets over time” and “may determine to manage other funds with different investment strategies,” according to a previous VCJ report.
StepStone Group
AUM: $157bn
Secondaries capital raised, 2018-2023: $20.4bn*
HQ: New York
Founded: 2006
SI 50, 2023 ranking: 6
Strategies: Fund investments, secondaries, co-investments, direct investments
Latest VC secondaries fund: In June, StepStone raised the largest venture capital secondaries fund to date. It closed on $3.3 billion, far surpassing its target of $2.6 billion.
Transaction types: LP interests, strip sales, LP tenders, continuation funds, direct secondaries
Sample deals: Primary Venture Partners completed a $95 million secondary strip sale to StepStone in February 2024; StepStone bought a 30 percent stake in PVP Fund I
Key team members: John Avirett, Brian Borton, Andrew Callahan, John Coelho, Phil Cummins, Deric Emry III, Tom Fitzherbert-Brockholes, Anthony Giambrone, Leyla Holterud, Vincent Hsu, Dale Irby, Seyonne Kang, Jim Lim, Adair Newhall, Ashton Newhall, Lindsay Redfield, Hunter Somerville, Stephen West.
StepStone is a global investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct and secondary indirect investments. It focuses on the US, North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and MENA. The firm’s sixth venture capital secondaries fund is the the largest VC secondaries fund ever raised. “One of the pieces that helped us be successful is, A, really great longstanding relationships with our LPs that have been with us for awhile and have had a lot of success with us,” John Avirett, a partner in the firm’s venture and growth division, told VCJ. “And, B, the market dynamics where there’s very high-quality assets that are stuck privately where we have the unique ability to invest in them.”
SecondQuarter Ventures
AUM: $A134m
Dedicated secondaries capital: $A134m
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Founded: 2019
Strategies: Direct secondaries, LP interests
Latest VC secondaries fund: Held a first close in October 2022 on A$83 million for SecondQuarter Ventures Fund II, which is targeting A$100 million
Transaction types: LP-stakes, GP-stakes, founder shares, employee shares
Sample deals: SecondQuarter, Fifth Wall and Tiger Global Management acquired an undisclosed stake in Assignar, a construction operations management platform, from OIF Ventures in October 2021
Key team members: Ian Beatty, Leigh Jasper, Andrew Sypkes, David Tarascio
SecondQuarter Ventures is a dedicated venture secondaries investor primarily focused on buying direct stakes in technology companies from founders, employees and early investors. The firm also looks to invest LP-stakes in venture funds. SecondQuarter invests only in companies based in Australia or New Zealand, or heavily connected to those geographies. Prospective companies must have a valuation of at least A$75 million ($50 million; €46 million) or more and revenue growing at 30 percent or more per year.
TempoCap
AUM: $270m
Dedicated secondaries capital: $20m
HQ: London
Founded: 2006
Strategies: Direct secondaries, GP portfolios
Latest VC secondaries fund: Raised $20.9 million as of July 12, 2023, for TempoCap Growth Opportunities II, which is targeting $274.6 million
Transaction types: Direct secondaries, GP stake sales
Sample deals: Paid $6.7 million in a secondary transacton for a stake in AI platform Streetbees, which was bought from Nordstar Partners in December 2020
Key team members: Olav Ostin, Adam Shepherd, Philipp Meindl
TempoCap is a venture investor focused on primary and secondary investments in technology companies based in Europe. The firm closed its debut primary investing fund at $226 million in 2021 and subsequently launched its dedicated secondaries vehicle targeting just over $300 million. TempoCap carries out direct secondaries deals and also acquires partial or full portfolios of venture funds.
TrueBridge Capital
AUM: $7.5bn
Dedicated secondaries capital: $230m
HQ: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Founded: 2011
Strategies: Direct secondaries, LP-led secondaries
Latest VC secondaries fund: TrueBridge Secondaries I closed on $230 million in May 2024. It plans to “build a blended portfolio of top-performing mid- to late-stage companies and venture fund stakes through the rapidly growing venture secondaries market.”
Transaction types: Direct secondaries, LP fund interests
Key team members: Edwin Poston, Kate Simpson, Mel Williams, Andrew Winslow
TrueBridge Capital Partners is a venture capital fund of funds manager and direct investor founded in 2007 by Edwin Poston and Mel Williams. In May, it closed on $1.6 billion across five new funds, including $230 million for its first VC secondaries fund. “The growth of the venture secondaries market is providing limited partners with new and expanded access to high-performing assets with enhanced visibility and potential shorter remaining hold periods in addition to possible discount pricing,” partner Andrew Winslow said in a previous VCJ report.
Editor’s Note: This is our first attempt at identifying all the major players in venture secondaries. If we missed someone, please email the author, Ryan Hibbison.
*Source: Secondaries Investor 50 ranking of biggest fundraisers of dedicated secondaries capital