An IPO drought pushes investors to a murky marketplace

In Silicon Valley, the promise of a massive payday for a start-up’s early employees and investors has hinged on those companies eventually going public or being sold off. But with the slowdown in initial public offerings and acquisitions, a different marketplace is set to heat up this year. It is called the venture secondary market, and it’s where both investors and early employees can trade their stakes in privately-held companies. The FT’s venture capital correspondent George Hammond explains the potential pitfalls of this opaque marketplace and why investors will be rushing to it in 2024.     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading:Investors raise billions to buy discounted stakes in start-upsCarta customers say platform tried to trade their shares without consentCarta shuts trading platform after data privacy breach allegationsStaying private: the booming market for shares in the hottest start-ups- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - On X, follow George Hammond (@GeorgeNHammond) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.