ARK Venture Fund Takes Big Stake in Private Tech Companies: Brett Winton’s Innovation Opportunity

ARK Invest is taking a sizable position in privately-held technology companies, according to Brett Winton, the firm’s chief futurist who asserted that this era represents an outstanding opportunity for investing in innovation. In September 2022, Winton collaborated with ARK Invest’s team to create the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), a closed-end interval fund that allows investors to purchase shares at net asset value any time regardless of market volatility and sell them back quarterly during specific periods. The largest private holdings in this portfolio, as disclosed by its website on April 10th, are Epic Games, SpaceX, Freenome, and Anthropic. Winton explained that interval funds were designed explicitly for everyday investors to invest in less liquid assets without requiring accreditation status while still being able to purchase shares at net asset value. Since the fund’s launch date, it has gained 29%, but as of Thursday’s close, its year-to-date performance is down over 7%.