Clear Street is set to launch a platform that will provide accredited investors with pre-IPO access to late-stage private companies, beginning with Databricks, currently valued at $188 billion. This move comes amid a trend where a significant portion of wealth creation is taking place in private markets, prompting demand for increased investor access. The platform will allow margin loans against pre-IPO holdings and include dedicated research coverage, which is rare in private markets. Additionally, Clear Street’s introduction of this service aligns with major financial institutions, like Goldman, that have recently entered the competitive landscape with similar offerings.

Owen Lau: Owen Lau is a managing director and equity research analyst at Clear Street with a focus on the fintech sector. In his role he will deliver dedicated private-company research to support the firm’s new pre-IPO access platform.
Uri Cohen: Uri Cohen is the CEO of Clear Street and has highlighted how much of recent wealth creation has shifted into private markets. He has pointed to demand from smaller investors seeking entry points into such opportunities and discussed the firm’s own future listing plans.
Databricks: Databricks develops an open analytics platform that enables enterprises to manage large-scale data, analytics, and artificial intelligence workloads. As a prominent late-stage private AI company, it serves as the inaugural offering on Clear Street’s new private-access platform for accredited investors.
Clear Street: Clear Street is a fintech broker and capital markets infrastructure provider focused on modernizing brokerage services for institutional and sophisticated investors. The firm is preparing to launch a dedicated platform that grants accredited investors access to interests in late-stage private companies. This initiative directly supports the reported rollout of pre-IPO interests beginning with Databricks.

Product Innovation: Firms are introducing specialized features such as margin lending secured by private holdings and dedicated research coverage for non-public companies.
Competitive Landscape: Major financial institutions have begun rolling out competing platforms to provide accredited investors with exposure to late-stage private companies.
Private Markets Trend: A growing share of wealth creation is occurring in private rather than public markets, driving demand for broader investor access.