Secfi
Founded 2017 · 30 employees on LinkedIn · 5 known investors
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Secfi offers liquidity and financing solutions for startup executives and founders, including equity analysis, tailored financing that lets holders retain ownership, and tax strategies around events such as QSBS status. It also provides market intelligence on startups and equity, and can extend its financing and liquidity offerings to a company's employees as a benefit.
Also known as Secfi Capital · Secfi Securities, LLC · Secfi Wealth
Founders & leadership
Secfi was founded in 2017 by Frederik Mijnhardt and Wouter Witvoet.
Investors · 5
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Secfi is a financial services firm focused on people who hold equity in private technology companies. Its stated mission is to give employees with equity the tools to understand and control their financial futures, addressing the difficulty and cost of exercising stock options. The company organizes its offering around several product lines: Secfi Liquidity, which covers secondary sales and non-recourse financing against pre-IPO shares and options; Secfi Wealth, which offers financial planning and investment management delivered by advisors; and Secfi Capital, which packages exposure to employee-held private company equity for institutional investors.
The financing product advances cash that clients can use to exercise stock options and cover the associated taxes and fees, or to obtain liquidity. Secfi describes the process as creating an account and submitting equity details, receiving a proposal for a cash advance, a loan, or both, and then signing contracts and receiving funds. Pricing consists of interest on the advanced amount plus an equity fee based on the value of the shares at settlement, with rates driven mainly by the underlying company's risk profile and by transaction-specific factors such as strike price and tax need. Settlement generally occurs ten days after shares become unrestricted or after long-term capital gains treatment becomes available, for example after an IPO lockup expires.
Alongside its transactional products, Secfi publishes an educational library, Secfi Learn, covering topics such as exercising options after leaving a company, tender offers, 409A valuations, preferred share price, equity dilution, ISO/NSO/RSU taxation, AMT exposure and pre- versus post-IPO selling, plus an ask-an-expert format and a newsletter on startups, venture capital and public markets.
Founding story
Secfi was founded after its founders discovered they could not afford to exercise their own stock options, prompting them to build a platform to demystify stock options and give employees clarity, tools and resources for financial decisions about their equity.
Business model
Secfi earns from financing transactions structured as non-recourse advances, charging interest on the advanced amount plus an equity fee calculated on the value of the shares at settlement; it also facilitates secondary sales of private stock and provides financial planning and investment management through Secfi Wealth. Secfi Capital offers institutional investors access to positions sourced from current and former startup employees' equity, with Secfi conducting underwriting and due diligence and handling reporting, transaction data and contracts.
Transaction-based interest and equity fees on non-recourse financings, plus advisory and investment management services; institutional capital is deployed through Secfi Capital structures that Secfi sources and administers.
Traction
The company reports 55,000 startup employees using it for equity planning, $90 billion of equity registered on the platform, $790 million provided to startup employees, more than 100 companies underwritten, and that 94% of portfolio company exits to date have produced positive returns. Its newsletter has over 30,000 subscribers.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Secfi positions itself as a financial advisor dedicated to technology employees and as an advocate for the startup community on equity matters, reporting 55,000 startup employees using it for equity planning and $90 billion of equity registered on its platform.
Its financing is non-recourse: the stock options serve as the only collateral, no personal assets are pledged, nothing is repaid if the company never exits, and repayment is capped at the value of the shares at settlement. Secfi states it does not take ownership or control of client shares. Secfi Capital positions investments in employee equity as avoiding the board-approval requirements of conventional secondary transactions and as structured to allow deferred taxes, long-term capital gains treatment on positive exits and deductions on unsuccessful ones.
Technology
Secfi operates an online platform where users create an account, register their equity details and request financing, with calculators and tools intended to handle equity and tax computations. In 2025 the company introduced Maeve, described as AI built for equity.
Go-to-market
Direct self-service sign-up on the website combined with advisory conversations with in-house Equity Strategists; the company also uses a large educational content library, curated learning collections, an ask-an-expert channel (ask@secfi.com) and a newsletter with more than 30,000 subscribers to attract equity holders.
Employees, executives and founders holding stock options or shares in private startups, as well as people at public companies seeking financial planning; on the capital side, institutional investors seeking exposure to late-stage private companies.
History
Beginning with financing to help employees exercise stock options, Secfi expanded into secondary sales of private stock, wealth management and financial planning through Secfi Wealth, and institutional investment via Secfi Capital, and in 2025 introduced an AI equity product called Maeve.
Risks & controversies
Secfi states that its financings are investments carrying benefits and risk factors, that its solutions carry no guarantees of expected returns, and that outcomes vary by client. Not all companies are approved for non-recourse financing, and applicants may be declined until Secfi updates its approved-company list. Client testimonials on the site are noted as not necessarily representative.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsSecfi introduced Maeve, described on its website as AI built for equity, promoted across the site with a trial call to action.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Secfisecfi.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Secfi do?
- Secfi provides liquidity, non-recourse financing, wealth management and equity planning for startup employees and executives.
- Who founded Secfi?
- Secfi was founded by Frederik Mijnhardt, Wouter Witvoet in 2017.
- Who are Secfi's investors?
- Secfi's investors include Chapter One, Eastward Capital Partners, New York Venture Partners, Rucker Park Capital, Social Leverage.