*as of 10/26; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Total trading activity on secondary platform EquityZen surged 57.4% in Q3, with transaction sizes also increasing significantly on both the buy-side and sell-side. AI companies led the way, making up 43% of the total volume, followed by Fintech at 24% and Emerging Energy at 12%. Companies valued between $5 billion and $10 billion made up a whopping 63.6% of the deal value, a notable shift from earlier quarters, where companies valued above $20 billion made up the majority of the volume. Overall, 83.5% of all trades came at a discount to previous official valuations, up from 74.7% in Q2.

➨ TAKEAWAY: With IPO activity slowing down, more investors are turning to secondary marketplaces to try and get shares of desirable startups, particularly in the AI sector. They are also focusing mainly on late-stage companies that could be closer to public offerings and a potential exit. There are a lot of opportunities as investors are taking advantage of sellers’ liquidity needs and getting shares at a discount to prior funding rounds.

Slava Rubin and Jan-Erik Asplund discuss the current state of the Pre-IPO fintech market, starting with the evolution of fintech from 2008 to the present and then highlighting key companies like Stripe, Ramp, Revolut, and Plaid. They look at market trends, valuation dynamics, and the impact of AI on the future of financial technology.

🤖 Anthropic S-1: The AI startup officially filed for its public offering with the SEC and will be listing on the Nasdaq under the symbol “ANT." The IPO could end up being the biggest of all-time, and we will cover it in our next investor briefing in November.

🛰️ Apex Space funding: The satellite manufacturing startup is reportedly raising a $500 million funding at a $4 billion valuation, nearly double its $2.3 billion valuation from June. The space tech sector has been attracting investor attention all year.

🚀 Xona funding round: Meanwhile, another space-related startup - this one building global navigation infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit - raised a $250 million round at a $2.45 billion valuation, triple its valuation from earlier this year, and 12x its Series A valuation from 18 months ago.

🏡 Foreclosure auctions rise: Completed U.S. foreclosure auctions rose 25% year-over-year in Q3, reaching their highest quarterly total since the pandemic, with scheduled auctions for Q4 indicating a further increase in volume. Foreclosure auction buyers are paying an estimated 65.3% of retail value on average.

🏢 Self-storage rates falling: National advertised self-storage rates declined 1.8% year-over-year, dropping in all 30 major metro areas, as falling consumer demand outweighed shrinking new supply due to a slowdown in construction.

🎨 Record antique sculpture: A marble torso from the early Roman Empire sold for $34.3 million at Sotheby’s last week, shattering the all-time record for any ancient classical sculpture ever sold at auction.

Housing affordability is a major issue in the U.S., so seeing an entire 15-acre “western-style” town up for sale for $280,000 is a surprise. Sure, it’s pretty isolated, four miles away from Jay, OK, a town of 2,500, and an hour west of Bentonville, AR, the home of Wal-Mart. And it will undoubtedly require a lot of work to restore every building, but there seems to be a lot of potential. There are a number of buildings - a restaurant, church, general store, bathhouse, sheriff's office with jail cells, various shops, apartments, storage buildings and more, though two have been damaged by fire. The centerpiece, and presumably where the owners would live, is a two-story 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in good condition. Owner financing is available, and the price was just cut, probably a sign that there isn’t much demand. But if you want to own and operate your own Old West outpost, now’s your chance.