Alternative Investing Report - April 21, 2026

*as of 4/20; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

Not surprisingly, AI remains the most sought after sector for Pre-IPO investors, according to a new report from EquityZen. It is followed by Aerospace, Information Technology, and Manufacturing, which has jumped three spots in the past two quarters. Specific companies that have seen big bumps in popularity on EquityZen’s platform include defense tech startups XTEND, Mach Industries, and Saronic, as the industry continues to attract capital. The average company traded at an 8% discount in Q1, a significant reduction from the average 29% discount from Q4.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Investors are targeting AI and space companies, perhaps in an effort to find the next SpaceX, OpenAI, or Anthropic. Meanwhile, employees at those companies are holding onto their shares, with participation rates in the most recent tender offers coming in at less than half of previous ones. Overall, demand for Pre-IPO shares is increasing faster than supply, which is why the average discount on shares is narrowing.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Vincent’s Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund take an in-depth look at the hottest startups in one of the hottest sectors - defense tech. They discuss Anduril, Shield AI, Saronic, and how the geopolitical situation is affecting the ecosystem at large.

🚀 Cerebras IPO: The AI chip startup and Nvidia competitor Cerebras filed to go public, and is reportedly planning to raise $3 billion or more at a valuation above $35 billion. It was last valued at $23 billion in February, and has recently inked lucrative deals with OpenAI and Amazon.

🪙 Massive DeFi hack: Kelp DAO fell victim to an exploit that drained it of $292 million worth of tokens, which sparked a liquidity crunch across a number of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. This theft is the latest in a string of similar DeFi hacks, raising questions about the safety of the sector and causing related tokens, such as Aave, to drop in value.

🤖 Another AI fundraise: The pre-revenue startup Recursive Superintelligence, which is just four months old and has no product, raised $500 million at a $4 billion pre-money valuation. The company aims to build an AI system that learns from itself without any human involvement, a concept that could lead to a super-intelligent AI model.

🏡 Sellers outnumbering buyers: There are now 43% more sellers than buyers in the U.S. housing market, nearing the highest gap since at least 2013 and up from a 28% gap a year ago.

💵 Tokenized private credit: Flow Capital is planning to put its entire $150 million private credit fund on the blockchain, and is hoping to raise an additional $30 million in tokenized shares by year’s end.

👜 Signed Birkin: Heritage’s upcoming luxury goods auction features an Hermès Birkin bag with dual signatures from Jane Birkin, among other rare handbags and accessories.

While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home has been the site of two recent attacks, the home where OpenAI was born has just hit the market, so AI superfans and haters alike can compete for a piece of history. Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, the two-level, 1,800 square foot, 3 bedroom/2 bathroom flat is where Altman’s co-founder Greg Brockman was living when OpenAI was conceived, and acted as the company’s first office. It is listed for $1.545 million, with an open house today from 2-4 PM PST. The entire building where the flat is located is also being offered to buyers, with a leased commercial space and a 1-bedroom garden flat in addition to the OpenAI apartment.