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EquityZen

acquired by Morgan Stanley500 Global

New York, US · Founded 2013 · Delaware corporation · 40 employees on LinkedIn · 13 known investors

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Acquired by Morgan Stanley October 2025 · terms undisclosed — Terms not disclosed · source ↗

EquityZen operates an online marketplace that gives accredited individual investors access to shares in late-stage private companies through secondary market transactions. Now part of Morgan Stanley, the platform provides private market data, offering documents, and guided investment processes for buying and selling pre-IPO equity.

FintechMarketplacesPropTech

Founders & leadership

EquityZen was founded in 2013 by Atish Davda, Shriram Bhashyam, and Phil Haslett.

ADAtish Davda
Atish DavdaCEO, Founder, Board MemberAtish Davda studied computer engineering, economics, and mathematics at the Wharton School and University of Pennsylvania, and brings over 15 years of experience in fintech and asset management across engineering, quantitative analysis, and investing roles. He is co-founder and CEO of EquityZen, a private company marketplace acquired by Morgan Stanley.
SBShriram Bhashyam
Shriram BhashyamFounder and Advisor2019–2020Shriram Bhashyam is co-founder of EquityZen, where he led product development and helped scale the company to approximately 50 employees and multi-million dollar revenues. Previously, he served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Citi Ventures, working on product incubation and new ventures in regulated financial services.
PHPhil Haslett
Phil HaslettFounder | Chief Strategy OfficerHe previously worked as an investment professional at Barclays Capital and Pomelo Capital, and holds a BS in Quantitative Economics from Tufts University.

Investors · 13

500 Globallisted by 500 GlobalPalo Alto · $150K

How we know: funding news · press coverage · open dataset · 500 Global portfolio 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us

Amino Capitallisted by Amino CapitalPalo Alto · $100K – $10M

How we know: Amino Capital's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

Chasella Capital Partnerslisted by Chasella Capital Partners

How we know: Chasella Capital Partners's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Click Ventureslisted by Click VenturesHong Kong

How we know: Click Ventures's portfolio page · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Draper Associateslisted by Draper AssociatesSan Mateo · $500K – $5M

How we know: press coverage · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

Khosla Ventureslisted by Khosla VenturesMenlo Park · $100K – $20M

How we know: Khosla Ventures's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Kima Ventureslisted by Kima VenturesParis · $50K – $5M

How we know: Kima Ventures's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

LaunchCapitallisted by LaunchCapitalBoston · $50K – $150K

How we know: LaunchCapital's portfolio page · funding news · press coverage · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

Practical Venture Capitallisted by Practical Venture CapitalSilicon Valley

How we know: Practical Venture Capital's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Silicon Badialisted by Silicon BadiaNew York · $250K
TSVClisted by TSVCSilicon Valley · $1M

How we know: the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

WorldQuant Ventureslisted by WorldQuant VenturesOld Greenwich

How we know: press coverage · the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

ZenStone Venture Capitallisted by ZenStone Venture CapitalSan Jose

Reported raises · per SEC filings

Form D private placements

$5.3M disclosed across 2 rounds · 2015–2016

▶$1.8MraisedDec 2016 · 6 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • SHRIRAM BHASHYAMExecutive Officer, Director
  • PHILIP HASLETTExecutive Officer, Director
  • ATISH DAVDAExecutive Officer, Director
Offering amount
$3M
Amount sold
$1.8M
First sale
Dec 2016
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2013
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$3.5MraisedSep 2015 · 45 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Atish DavdaExecutive Officer, Director
  • Philip HaslettExecutive Officer, Director
  • Shriram BhashyamExecutive Officer, Director
Offering amount
$3.5M
Amount sold
$3.5M
First sale
Aug 2015
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2013
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Founder mafia

3 people who came through EquityZen went on to found or lead other companies.

Mingfeng WuInvestorFounded DecorMattersFarris WuInvestorFounded DecorMattersDylan DiMarchiSummer InternFounded Eventual

Related companies · 6

Forge GlobalForge operates a secondary marketplace where accredited investors can buy and sell shares in private, pre-IPO companies, backed by real-time pricing data, historical valuation trends, and market signals. It provides pricing insights on private companies (including its proprietary Forge Price metric) and offers optional specialist support to facilitate transactions.
Nasdaq Private MarketNasdaq Private Market operates infrastructure for private-company securities, offering liquidity programs (tender offers, buybacks, auctions), a secondary marketplace for accredited investors to buy and sell pre-IPO shares and funds, market data and intelligence, patented settlement technology, and capital-raising solutions. It serves private companies, employee shareholders, institutional and individual investors, and banks/brokers.
NasdaqNasdaq operates a technology infrastructure platform for financial markets across three business segments: Capital Access Platforms (which includes listing services, indices, and analytics tools), Financial Technology (comprising compliance, regulatory, and capital markets software), and Market Services (equities and derivatives trading operations). The company serves financial institutions, listed companies, investment managers, and regulatory agencies globally.
TradingViewTradingView is a charting platform and social network used by over 100 million traders and investors worldwide to analyze and trade across global financial markets. The platform provides tools for technical analysis, market data, and community collaboration for retail and institutional traders.
Seeking AlphaSeeking Alpha is a financial research platform offering stock analysis, market news, investment ideas, and quantitative ratings across asset classes, drawing on a large community of contributing analysts. It serves individual and professional investors seeking research and data-driven insight on stocks and markets.
UpmarketUpMarket is an online investment platform and registered broker dealer that enables accredited investors to access alternative assets including pre-IPO companies, hedge funds, and private equity. The platform aims to democratize access to private markets beyond traditional stock market investments.

Companies working in the same space as EquityZen.

In the news

How do I invest on EquityZen? | EquityZen Help Centerhelp.equityzen.com · Feb 2026Private Market Investment Trends, Q3 2025 | EquityZenblog.equityzen.com · Oct 2025EquityZen Celebrates 11 Years of Multi-Company Funds, Pre-IPO Diversification With a Single Investmentglobenewswire.com · Sep 2025Investing in Growth Opportunity Fund XI LLC | EquityZen Help Centerhelp.equityzen.com · Sep 2025Funding my investment | EquityZen Help Centerhelp.equityzen.com · Jun 2024The secondary marketplace EquityZen just landed $3 million in funding | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com · Jul 2017

Frequently asked questions

What does EquityZen do?
EquityZen operates an online marketplace that gives accredited individual investors access to shares in late-stage private companies through secondary market transactions. Now part of Morgan Stanley, the platform provides private market data, offering documents, and guided investment processes for buying and selling pre-IPO equity.
Who founded EquityZen?
EquityZen was founded by Atish Davda, Shriram Bhashyam, Phil Haslett in 2013.
Who are EquityZen's investors?
EquityZen's investors include 500 Global, Amino Capital, Chasella Capital Partners, Click Ventures, Draper Associates, Khosla Ventures, Kima Ventures, LaunchCapital and 5 more.
How much funding has EquityZen raised?
EquityZen has disclosed $5.3M raised across 2 rounds.
Who acquired EquityZen?
EquityZen was acquired by Morgan Stanley.
Where is EquityZen headquartered?
EquityZen is headquartered in New York, US.