Fintech broker Clear Street offers investors pre-IPO access to $188 billion AI giant Databricks
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- Clear Street is close to announcing a platform letting accredited investors buy interests in late-stage private companies, with AI software firm Databricks ($188 billion valuation this month) as the first offering, CNBC first reported.
- Uri Cohen, Clear Street's CEO and co-founder, said the goal is to remove friction so retail and smaller investors can access pre-IPO wealth creation, with the firm planning up to 30 startups on the platform by yearend—mostly tech firms valued $5 billion to $20 billion and six months to two years from an IPO.
- Clear Street handles asset servicing and risk management internally, enabling it to offer margin loans against pre-IPO holdings—a feature Cohen called "a rarity in private markets"—alongside a new private-company equity research desk headed by analyst Owen Lau.
- Clear Street paused its own IPO plans in February amid market volatility that hit broker and fintech multiples, but Cohen said the firm is cash-flow positive and bolstered liquidity with a $400 million investment-grade bond offering, targeting a 2027 listing "depending on market conditions."
- Goldman Sachs last week launched a competing platform expanding offerings for wealthy clients and family offices seeking direct stakes in fast-growing private companies, highlighting rising Wall Street appetite for pre-IPO exposure as startups stay private longer.
Why it matters: Clear Street's move channels pre-IPO demand—fueled by startups staying private longer—toward accredited retail, with a target of 30 startups on the platform by yearend. The internal asset servicing model enables margin loans against private holdings, a feature Cohen called rare, and directly competes with Goldman Sachs' newly launched private-stakes platform for wealthy clients.
