Robinhood’s newly launched venture capital fund (HOOD) has added stakes in Stripe and ElevenLabs, marking its first disclosed investments since trading began earlier this month.
Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI), a closed-end fund designed to provide retail investors exposure to private companies, said it purchased approximately $14.6 million of Stripe stock and $20 million of ElevenLabs preferred stock in transactions completed in March.
The fund began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 6, part of Robinhood’s broader push to open private markets to ordinary investors. Shares of the fund can be bought and sold like traditional stocks, providing access to companies typically reserved for institutional investors and the wealthy.
Stripe, founded in 2010, provides payment and financial software used by businesses ranging from startups to large enterprises. The investment was made via a secondary transaction, meaning Robinhood purchased shares from existing holders rather than directly from the company.
ElevenLabs, a London-based artificial intelligence company founded in 2022, focuses on voice and audio technologies. Its tools enable businesses and developers to generate speech, create chatbots, and create multimedia content in dozens of languages. Robinhood’s investment was part of a primary funding round, meaning the capital goes directly to the company.
These additions expand a portfolio that already includes private companies such as Databricks, Revolut, Ramp and Oura, with more investments expected over time.
Robinhood positioned the fund as a response to a shift in the capital markets. The number of publicly traded companies in the United States has declined over the past two decades, while private markets have grown to an estimated $10 trillion, limiting access for retail investors.
“For decades, wealthy individuals and institutions have invested in private companies while retail investors have been excluded,” CEO Vlad Tenev previously said.
Unlike traditional venture capital funds, Robinhood’s vehicle does not require investors to be accredited and does not charge performance fees, reducing barriers to entry.
The strategy follows the company’s previous efforts to provide exposure to the private market, including token shares in high-profile companies for users in Europe, a move that attracted scrutiny over how such products were structured.
With these latest investments, Robinhood signals that it plans to continue building a portfolio of private companies in the areas of fintech and artificial intelligence, two sectors that continue to attract strong investor interest ahead of possible public listings.
HOOD shares rose 2% Tuesday to $76.78. The RVI was 0.4% lower.
