Hiive Rebrands as Clarity, Targets Institutional Investors — SkimNews

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- Hiive rebranded as Clarity Group Inc., with CEO Sim Desai saying the change counters the private-share marketplace's reputation for "backroom deals and opaque access" and positions the firm as the sector's most credible player.
- Clarity's trade volume grew from US$300-million in 2023 to US$2.2-billion in 2024 and US$2.8-billion in the first eight months of 2025, with projected revenues surpassing US$100-million this year.
- Clarity was valued at US$850-million in a recent secondary deal; the 200-person platform hosts 147 issuers including cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, plus 95% of "tier-1" venture capital firms.
- Anthropic and OpenAI have tried to restrict secondary trading of their shares; Anthropic specifically warned investors in 2025 that trades on five platforms including Hiive would be considered void.
- Clarity rejected 70% of trading requests involving special-purpose vehicles that failed due diligence on underlying ownership or SPV manager quality, and requires issuer approval before facilitating any share transfer.
- Nasdaq Private Market sued Clarity this year over a patent granted in March, alleging infringement; Desai called the claim "baseless" and Clarity is seeking to invalidate the patent.
Why it matters: Clarity is institutionalizing a market that processed US$106-billion in secondaries last year against just US$120-million in IPO transactions, according to Pitchbook. With Anthropic and OpenAI actively voiding secondary trades, Clarity's issuer-approval compliance model gives it a structural edge — but the NPM patent suit threatens that position and could reshape how private shares move.
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