On January 27, 2026, Morgan Stanley announced that it had completed its purchase of the company.[6]
History
EquityZen was founded in 2013 by Atish Davda, Shriram Bhashyam and Phil Haslett in New York City.[1][7][8] From its outset, the firm was designed to allow employees of private companies to sell their equity to accredited investors.[4][9]
It started out as part of the 500 Startups accelerator program in the fall of 2013.[10][11] EquityZen received seed funding in January 2014[12] and as of September 2015 had raised Series A funding from undisclosed investors.[13][14]
In January 2026, three months after agreeing to buy EquityZen,[17] it was reported that Morgan Stanley had completed the transaction.
Service
EquityZen operates a marketplace in which employee shareholders in private companies can make their equity available to outside investors. In addition to traditional share transfers, EquityZen introduced a new offering in the private shares market by working with the issuer to register a transfer of shares so employees and early investors can sell a portion of shares for cash without having to wait until an IPO or acquisition.[1][18][19] The firm works exclusively with companies that have already raised capital from large, institutional investors.[3] Companies need to have at least $50 million in enterprise value to be listed on the marketplace.[20] The minimum investment amount for investors is $20,000.[3]
Financial Advisors, who manage capital on behalf of others, invest their clients' capital through the platform.[21] Investors outside of the US have invested in private companies.[22][23] EquityZen has transacted in over half of the largest 25 private Venture Capital-backed companies, such as prominent companies including Lyft, Evernote, and AppNexus.[1][24][25]
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