Clear Street offers Databricks pre-IPO access on new platform

Clear Street is preparing a Databricks pre-IPO offering as the first deal on a new platform for accredited investors seeking exposure to private companies before a stock-market listing, CNBC reported. Databricks, the artificial intelligence software company, said this month it was raising funding at a $188 billion valuation.

The move puts the fintech broker into a fast-growing corner of Wall Street: access to late-stage private companies that may remain outside public markets for years. Clear Street Chief Executive and co-founder Uri Cohen told CNBC the firm wants to reduce operational barriers and broaden access to investment products, saying wealth creation has increasingly occurred in private markets.

Clear Street’s platform will allow accredited investors to buy interests in mature private companies, according to CNBC. Accredited investor status generally refers to investors that meet regulatory wealth, income or professional criteria, allowing them to participate in offerings that are not registered for sale to the broader public.

How does Clear Street's pre-IPO platform work?

Clear Street will service the assets and manage risk itself, Cohen told CNBC, which he said will let the firm provide margin loans secured by eligible pre-IPO holdings. Margin lending against private-company stakes is less common than against listed securities because private shares can be harder to value, trade and settle.

The firm also plans to publish private-company equity research led by analyst Owen Lau, CNBC reported. Cohen described the research effort as a way to bring more of the information practices used in public equities into private markets, where company disclosure is typically more limited.

Clear Street expects to have as many as 30 startups available on the platform by the end of the year, Cohen told CNBC. The target group is mostly technology companies valued between $5 billion and $20 billion and thought to be roughly six months to two years from a possible initial public offering.

Demand for these products has risen as high-growth startups delay public listings. CNBC cited investor interest in companies such as Databricks, Anthropic and OpenAI, where private-market holders may capture a larger share of gains before ordinary public-market investors can buy shares.

Goldman Sachs has also expanded private-market access for wealthy clients and family offices seeking direct stakes in fast-growing private firms, CNBC reported last week. Clear Street’s launch shows how brokerages and investment banks are competing to serve investors who want exposure before companies enter public markets.

The expansion comes after Clear Street paused its own IPO plans. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Clear Street had been valued at nearly $12 billion in a private funding round, and CNBC reported the firm put its listing plans on hold in February after market volatility weighed on broker and fintech valuations.

Cohen told CNBC that Clear Street is cash-flow positive and strengthened liquidity through a $400 million investment-grade bond offering. He said the firm was in a strong position and had delayed its listing for timing reasons, adding that Clear Street would look toward a 2027 IPO depending on market conditions.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.