Seduced by Private Markets: Why Democratization May Not Be Best for Investors

The push to “democratize” private markets is not about giving retail investors better opportunities; it is a corporate strategy by asset managers to bypass the race to zero in public markets and recover profit margins. This is a fundamental mismatch, attempting to force illiquid, opaque, and hard-to-value assets into a public fund structure built for liquidity and transparency, ultimately shifting new and significant risks onto the individual investor. READ MORE

SEC clears wider retail access to private funds via registered closed-end funds

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has removed longstanding constraints that limited retail investors’ access to private funds. With this practice now withdrawn, demand for alternative strategies is set to rise, thus creating a larger addressable market for products that package private equity, private credit, and hedge-style exposures. However, realising the opportunity will still hinge on rigorous due diligence and clear education on fees, liquidity, and risk.

For more than two decades, retail closed-end funds that invested 15% or more of assets in underlying private funds were, in practice, steered toward accredited-investor sales and a $25,000 minimum. The SEC has now ended that approach. This means more private equity, private credit, and hedge-style exposures can now be wrapped in registered closed-end vehicles marketed to ordinary brokerage clients. READ MORE

Private equity giants raid Wall Street as fundraising talent wars heat up

With capital harder to come by, private equity giants and investment banks are waging a global battle for talent as dealmaking activity ekes out a recovery.

Private equity recruitment accelerated in the first half of 2025, led by fundraising, investor relations and marketing roles, according to a recent report from Magellan Advisory Partners. Broader investment hiring also rebounded after two years of freeze or slowdown. READ MORE

We Built a 7-Figure Business Without a Single Investor — Here's Why Saying No to VC Was Our Smartest Move

You've heard this story before: a couple of college kids launch a startup from their dorm room. Surrounded by engineers, finance majors and future founders, venture capital wasn't just common — it was expected. So when my co-founder and I launched Prepory, our college admissions coaching company, we assumed we'd need funding to be taken seriously.

We entered a pitch competition and came in second. No check. We reached out to investors. No bites. We had a choice: give up or keep building.

We kept building. READ MORE

The M&A Downturn of 2025: Strategic Shifts in Private Equity Liquidity and Regulatory Risk

The private equity landscape in 2025 is undergoing a seismic shift as firms grapple with a confluence of macroeconomic headwinds and regulatory turbulence. Traditional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) exits, once the cornerstone of portfolio monetization, have faltered amid geopolitical tensions, divergent monetary policies, and heightened antitrust scrutiny. According to a report by The private equity landscape in 2025 is undergoing a seismic shift as firms grapple with a confluence of macroeconomic headwinds and regulatory turbulence. Traditional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) exits, once the cornerstone of portfolio monetization, have faltered amid geopolitical tensions, divergent monetary policies, and heightened antitrust scrutiny. According to a report by S&P Global, Q1 2025 marked the lowest level of private equity exits in two years, with trade wars and economic uncertainty stifling cross-border dealmaking [5]. This downturn has forced general partners (GPs) to recalibrate their strategies, prioritizing fund-level liquidity solutions over conventional exit pathways. READ MORE

Private equity is reshaping the tax and accounting industry. Here’s how tech and culture may determine who wins.

Private equity has arrived in the tax and accounting profession, and it’s moving fast. Historically overlooked by institutional investors, the industry is now attracting serious attention. Why? Because it checks every box: It’s fragmented, characterized by stable, predictable revenue, facing a talent shortage, and under pressure to modernize. Many firms still have a great deal of opportunity to innovate when it comes to technology, another factor that makes the industry ripe for transformation. READ MORE

Why Apollo CEO Marc Rowan says the traditional investing model is ‘broken’

The revolution in private markets and private lending is setting the stage for a sweeping investor shift out of publicly traded stocks and into alternatives, according to Apollo Global CEO Marc Rowan.

With the stock market increasingly driven by passive investing and indexing, and dominated by a handful of mega-tech stocks, investors seeking diversification will need to start turning to the rapidly expanding private markets, Rowan told CNBC. READ MORE

SaaS Shines in Venture Funding: It Has Nearly Doubled Its Capital Raising in Two Years

Venture funding is undergoing an adjustment, with a slight drop in total amounts, a slowdown in new investments, and a more selective environment among fund managers. But that doesn’t mean there’s no activity. In fact, according to an analysis by U.S.-based firm Carta, the Software as a Service (SaaS) segment is particularly shining, capturing the enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) that is permeating international markets.

Aggregate figures from the firm’s startup network—around 4,500 companies—show a total capital raise of $46.9 billion in new venture funding during the first half of the year. This came from a total of 2,248 funding events. READ MORE

Venture Capitalists Band Together In New Bid To Back Climate Tech

As the US cuts back on climate spending under President Donald Trump’s administration, a group of private investors are pursuing a new model to back emissions-cutting technology.

Khosla Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and DCVC are among over a dozen venture capital firms and private equity funds announced on Wednesday that they have launched an initiative to help address the fundraising challenge of climate tech startups on the brink of commercialization. Known as the All Aboard Coalition, the new group is on course to close its initial fund of about $300 million by the end of October and aims to make its first investments this year.

The fund will be used alongside coalition members’ individual funds. The existing members manage more than $40 billion in assets. READ MORE

The Future of Silicon Valley: Examining the Six Biggest Issues Impacting Innovation and Growth

Silicon Valley continues to be a leader in driving global innovation, with Silicon Valley startups accounting for over half of venture capital (VC) investment last year according to Crunchbase data. But to better secure its future influence and status as the leading tech hub, it must address some critical challenges that pose a threat to innovation and growth. 

While the region is still a leader in artificial intelligence (AI), biotech, and frontier technologies, without addressing some critical issues, Silicon Valley could risk its standing as the premier global innovation hub.  READ MORE

The democratization of private equity could create a “systemic risk machine”

In March, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said he’d like to see more individual investors get access to private assets that have long been “locked behind high walls, with gates that open only for the wealthiest or largest market participants.” That’s a tempting prospect for retail investors who’d like to get the same kinds of returns as billionaires and hedge funds. And private equity firms are increasingly eager to give ordinary Americans the chance to, as one investment platform puts it, “invest like the 1 percent.” READ MORE

Raising multiple rounds of venture capital might be wrong for your startup

There’s a generally accepted script in Silicon Valley: Identify a startup idea. Sell a chunk of your company to raise venture capital. Make sales. Raise more venture capital, and make more sales. Repeat until the company goes public, or gets acquired, hopefully for billions either way.

But what if you didn’t get on a fundraising treadmill after taking a first round? What if you structured your company to sprint to profitability through slower, sustainable growth, rather than the reverse — unprofitable growth — as so many VC-backed companies do?  READ MORE

Trump Wants 401(k)s to Offer Private Equity and Crypto: What It Means for You

President Donald Trump is paving the way for a significant shift in retirement investing by permitting 401(k) plans to include alternative investments like private equity, real estate and digital assets. Trump’s recent executive order1 aims to provide 401(k) participants with greater access to diversified investment opportunities, potentially enhancing retirement outcomes. However, these alternative investments come with increased risks, including higher fees, limited liquidity and greater complexity. As federal agencies work to redefine regulatory guidelines, 401(k) participants may soon face more options and greater complexity. READ MORE

Should You Invest Your 401(k) in Private Equity?

The federal government wants to make it easier for ordinary Americans to use their 401(k) money to invest in private equity, an asset class historically limited to institutional investors.

And while several hurdles remain before middle-class Americans are able to invest like Wall Street bigwigs, the move raises a thorny question: Is it safe for regular people to sink their hard-earned nest eggs into these notoriously complex and risky investments? READ MORE

'Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money' says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about unwise AI investment. 'When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth'

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spoke to assembled reporters at a dinner in San Francisco late last week on the topic of, you guessed it, AI, the applications of AI, and the vast sums of money moving behind the scenes to fund it. Despite being one of the most vocal advocates of the tech, Altman had some words of caution for investors jumping on the artificial intelligence train.

According to The Verge, Altman said it was "insane" that AI startups consisting of "three people and an idea" are receiving huge amounts of funding off the back of incredibly high company valuations, describing it as "not rational behaviour." READ MORE

This Strategy Is Helping Newly Launched DTC Brands Grow Sustainably

The death of direct-to-consumer has been declared many times. Over the past few years, it’s become a common refrain among consumer brands, but a new generation of e-commerce startups has come to market with a remedy: bootstrapping.

When it comes to securing capital, founders, who have launched e-commerce startups within the past six years, are most likely to self-fund. That’s according to a new report from Mercury, a San Francisco-based financial technology company that provides banking services to more than 200,000 startups. In May, the fintech surveyed 1,500 entrepreneurs and executives in the U.S. that are running companies under six years old and asked about their top four funding sources. Two-thirds of e-commerce founders said self-funding, followed by 51 percent, who cited business loans. Only 21 percent of respondents said venture capital.  READ MORE

The Top Private Equity Firms of 2025

GrowthCap is pleased to announce the Top Private Equity Firms of 2025. For the better part of over two decades, we have observed, studied, and in some cases had a front row seat to, leading firms in the private equity sector. Those that tend to succeed over the long run are those that act with high integrity and are driven to build and grow their portfolio companies the right way. Achieving excellence in private equity requires astute firm leadership, the ability to recruit and retain top talent, and an intense dedication to consistent performance.

We continuously monitor private equity firms, their deal activity, and their people, while filtering out the noise to develop the most informed perspective possible. Our selections reflect not only our diligence throughout the nomination process but also our ongoing observations and conversations with relevant professionals across the private market ecosystem. READ MORE

Why Private Investment Is Critical For US Healthcare Innovation Now More Than Ever

The opportunity and absolute necessity for private investment to fuel innovation in the U.S. healthcare system — innovation that drives greater access, lower costs and better outcomes — has never been greater. But the question is: Does venture capital have the stomach for it during these uncertain regulatory and political times? Let’s hope so.

The U.S. healthcare system is one of the largest and most complex in the world. It accounts for more than $4.5 trillion in annual spending, or over 18% of GDP. The infrastructure is vast, with about 6,000 hospitals, 900,000 licensed beds, 900,000 physicians and more than 4.7 million registered nurses. READ MORE