Bracket Capital Closes $450M Fund to Buy Up Employee Shares at SpaceX and Other Pre-IPO Companies

Bracket Capital, a Beverly Hills-based investment management firm focused on acquiring secondary shares in later-stage tech companies like SpaceX and Bird, announced Wednesday it has raised nearly half a billion dollars in equity.

The firm will split the cash between two funds, a traditional $150 million fund and another $350 million one that will co-invest alongside other firms.

Rather than buying stakes directly in startups, the firm said 80% of its shares come from snapping up existing shares. Those often come from early employees – tired of waiting for their company to go public – who are looking to cash out some of their equity so they can buy a house or pay for tuition.

The goal is to capitalize on the trend of startups taking increasingly longer lengths of time to IPO while avoiding the risk of early-stage startups.

Yalda Aoukar (right) and Jihan Bowes-Little are the co-founders of Bracket Capital.

For instance, the firm invested in Airbnb's 2017 Series F at a $30 billion valuation. Late last year, the vacation rental service went public at a $47 billion valuation and now it has a market capitalization of $122 billion.

Other Bracket investments include SpaceX, Clover Health, Palantir, Coinbase, SoFi, eToro, Reddit, Impossible Foods, Bird, Clutter and Hive.AI.

Bracket was founded in 2017 by two ex-London bankers, Jihan Bowes-Little, formerly of Goldman Sachs, and Yalda Aoukar, who worked at Lehman Brothers, Barclay's and Morgan Stanley. The firm will now be managing a total of $650 million.

"We have developed a unique reputation in the market given our track record, discerning approach to investing, and deep industry relationships," Aoukar said in a statement. "We thank our new and returning limited partners for their confidence and trust as we act as stewards of their capital."