Robinhood’s (HOOD) newly launched venture fund increased its stakes in Stripe and ElevenLabs, the first investments the fund has disclosed since it began trading earlier this month.
Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI), a closed-end fund designed to allow retail investors to invest in 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 as part of Robinhood’s broader effort to open private markets to ordinary investors. The fund’s shares can be bought and sold like traditional stocks, providing investment opportunities in companies typically restricted to institutional investors and wealthy individuals.
Founded in 2010, Stripe provides payments and accounting software to businesses ranging from startups to large enterprises. The investment was made through a secondary transaction, meaning Robinhood purchased the stock from existing holders rather than directly from the company.
ElevenLabs is a London-based artificial intelligence company founded in 2022 that focuses on voice and audio technology. Its tools allow businesses and developers to generate speech, build conversational agents, and create media content across dozens of languages. Robinhood’s investment is part of a major funding round, meaning the money goes directly to the company.
These additions expand the portfolio, which already includes private companies such as Databricks, Revolut, Ramp and Oura, with additional investments expected over time.
Robinhood is positioning the fund as a response to shifts in capital markets. The number of publicly traded companies in the United States has declined over the past two decades, while the private market has grown to about $10 trillion, limiting investment by retail investors.
CEO Vlad Tenev previously said: “For decades, wealthy people and institutions have invested in private companies, while retail investors have been locked out.”
Unlike traditional venture funds, Robinhood’s investment vehicles do not require investors to be accredited and do not charge performance fees, lowering barriers to entry.
The strategy follows the company’s earlier efforts to provide private market exposure, including offering tokenized shares of high-profile companies to European users, a move that drew scrutiny of the structure of those products.
With the latest investment, Robinhood said it plans to continue building a portfolio of private companies in fintech and artificial intelligence, two areas that continue to attract strong investor interest ahead of potential public listings.
HOOD shares rose 2% to $76.78 on Tuesday. RVI decreased by 0.4%.
