Robinhood Expands Private Equity Token Push With New Venture Capital Fund

Robinhood (HOOD) is deepening its foray into private markets with the launch of Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI), a closed-end investment vehicle aimed at providing retail investors access to pre-IPO companies. The fund, filed with the SEC, will trade on the NYSE pending approval, marking a significant step in democratizing private equity investments.

The MOVE follows controversy earlier this year when Robinhood offered EU users tokenized shares of private firms like OpenAI and SpaceX through a special purpose vehicle. Despite pushback—OpenAI explicitly denied these tokens represented equity—the platform continues its mission to break down barriers for retail investors. "For decades, wealthy people and institutions have invested in private companies while retail investors have been unfairly locked out," said CEO Vlad Tenev.

Robinhood's parallel rollout of a layer-2 blockchain for tokenized U.S. stocks in the EU underscores its commitment to merging traditional finance with crypto innovation. While no specific cryptocurrencies are mentioned in this initiative, the strategy aligns with broader industry trends of tokenizing real-world assets.