Alternative Investing Report - September 16, 2025

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*as of 9/15; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

The popular trading app Robinhood announced Robinhood Venture Funds I (RVI), a publicly traded closed-end venture capital fund that will give retail investors access to a portfolio of shares in private companies. It is still subject to SEC approval, but the goal is for shares to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The fund will invest in five or more companies, though it is unclear what industries they will target or what form those investments will take.

➨ TAKEAWAY: This product builds on Robinhood’s stated goal of democratizing access to investing, and it is clear that the company is branching out into private market assets. Earlier this summer, Robinhood offered its EU customers access to tokenized shares of SpaceX and OpenAI, and the new fund is a way to offer U.S. customers access to pre-IPO shares. While any access to private markets for retail investors is a positive step, concerns about fees, incentives and liquidity remain, particularly given Robinhood’s track record, or in the case of venture capital, lack thereof.

In this episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with InfraHub Compute's Blake Hughes about the potential of real assets and investing in cloud computing hardware.

The private equity sector is struggling to raise capital, with fundraising down 34.4% year-over-year through the end of Q2 and on pace to hit the lowest yearly mark since 2020. This fundraising downturn is likely to lead to a record number of “zombie funds,” meaning firms that manage existing funds but cannot raise new capital and will eventually shut down.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The lack of exit activity over the past few years has limited the amount of capital existing investors can add to their PE portfolios and discouraged new investors from jumping into the asset class. The fundraising crunch is likely to lead to industry consolidation, with more established names getting bigger and smaller firms closing shop or being swallowed by larger competitors.

🎨 Comic art record: A painting by Frank Frazetta of Conan the Barbarian used for the 1967 cover of the first paperback collection of Conan stories sold for $13.5 million, an all-time record for an original piece of comic art.

🚀 Via IPO: In addition to Klarna, Gemini, and Figure, there were other IPOs last week, including transit software startup Via, which saw its share price rise from $46 to $49 on its first day of trading and is now up to $51. It is valued at $4.06 billion, up from its last private valuation of $3.5 billion in 2023.

🚀 Legence IPO: One more IPO to note from last week was the Blackstone-backed building services company Legence, whose share price rose from $28 to $30.5 in the two days since it went public.

🪙 Crypto Super PAC raises $100 million: The Fellowship PAC was launched with more than $100 million to contribute to pro-crypto candidates in the upcoming election cycle, continuing the industry’s push into political influence.

🎨 Early modern women artists: Works by women artists from the 15th-18th centuries have been receiving renewed attention from museums, auction houses, and investors, with prominent sales of artwork by Rachel Ruysch, Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun, and Artemisia Gentileschi.

🏡 “Quiet luxury” real estate: Wealthy buyers are seeking out properties away from the traditional luxury hotspots, which are getting increasingly crowded, and turning to lesser known parts of the Hamptons, Nantucket, and South Florida.

A 38-acre Malibu, CA estate that includes five acres of vineyards growing 10 different grape varietals is now on the auction block. It is the home of the Malibu Rocky Oaks wine label, which sells red, white, and rosé wine, but the brand is not included in the property sale, just the grapes. The main 7,665 square-foot 5 bed/5 bath home includes an elevator, rooftop terrace, wraparound deck, infinity pool and hot tub, and a three-car garage. The auction runs through October 30, and has a reserve price of $21 million.