As artificial intelligence startups Anthropic and OpenAI advance toward initial public offerings targeted for this year, investment vehicles that allow investors to secure pre-IPO stakes in both companies are drawing increasing attention. Both firms command valuations in the hundreds of billions of dollars, but with limited float expected immediately after listing, investors are moving quickly to lock in exposure ahead of the IPOs.

Chang Ji-young, an analyst at Hana Securities, noted, “At the stage where IPO details are becoming more concrete, beyond investing in listed companies that hold private stakes, investors can also utilize ETFs and closed-end funds that directly include unlisted equity.” He added, “Both types of products are listed on exchanges and can be traded in the same manner as regular stocks.”

Accessing Unlisted AI Companies via ETFs: Convenient, but Watch for Dilution and Delayed Valuation

ETFs holding private company shares offer a pathway that is easily accessible to ordinary investors. Under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, the total allocation to unlisted stocks within an ETF is capped at 15%. Currently, the weightings of Anthropic and OpenAI are low, but there is room for expansion if their valuations are reassessed going forward.

Chang recommended keeping an eye on ‘CNEQ’ and ‘ALAI,’ which have relatively higher Anthropic weightings, as well as ‘TTEQ,’ which holds both Anthropic and OpenAI. CNEQ focuses on large-cap U.S. growth stocks, with top holdings in Nvidia (13.3%), Microsoft (6.1%), TSMC (5.8%), Alphabet (5.7%), and Anthropic (5.5%). ALAI holds a 3.02% stake in Anthropic and is diversified across roughly 70 companies developing or utilizing AI technology. TTEQ holds both Anthropic (0.9%) and OpenAI (0.47%), but nine of its top ten holdings are semiconductor-related, positioning it to benefit from expanding AI infrastructure investment.

However, ETF-based investment comes with two key caveats. First, large capital inflows can dilute the unlisted equity exposure. Because private shares are illiquid, it is difficult to increase their weighting in line with the pace of fund inflows. In fact, the NASA ETF saw its SpaceX weighting drop from 10.7% to 4.6% in May when inflows surged.

Second, the value of private shares may not be immediately reflected in an ETF’s net asset value (NAV). ETFs typically hold unlisted stocks indirectly through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), and without an exchange-traded price, they rely on the fund manager’s own valuation. Chang pointed out, “In the case of XOVR, which held a 10% stake in SpaceX, its NAV tracked similarly to the underlying index—which excluded the private shares—even during a period when SpaceX’s valuation more than quadrupled, resulting in limited excess returns.”

Closed-End Funds: No Allocation Caps, but ‘Price Distortion’ Risk

Exchange-listed closed-end funds face no limits on their allocation to unlisted stocks, making them suitable for investors seeking higher exposure. For DXYZ and VCX, the combined weighting of Anthropic and OpenAI reaches 23.9% and 28.9%, respectively. With a fixed number of shares outstanding, they are also relatively insulated from the dilution issues caused by fund inflows.

However, they carry the risk of trading at a significant premium to NAV. When demand surges, the market price can spike far above NAV, and conversely, a discount can emerge if alternative investment options proliferate. Chang stressed, “Investors must check the level of the market price premium relative to NAV at the point of entry.”

OpenAI and Anthropic Eye IPOs Amid Lingering Valuation Concerns

OpenAI and Anthropic confidentially filed S-1 registration statements with the SEC on May 22 and June 1, respectively, with listings expected as early as late 2026 to early 2027. OpenAI was valued at approximately 1,303.8 trillion won (approximately $852 billion) in its last funding round and is targeting an IPO of around 1,530.3 trillion won (approximately $1 trillion). That represents roughly 50 times its annualized revenue of about 30.6 trillion won (approximately $20 billion) as of the end of 2025.

Anthropic was recently valued at approximately 1,476.8 trillion won (approximately $965 billion), and assuming a 1,530.3 trillion won (approximately $1 trillion) IPO, that would equate to 111 times its annualized revenue of about 13.8 trillion won (approximately $9 billion) at the end of 2025. Both companies plan to float only 5-10% of their total shares, raising the possibility of a sharp post-IPO price surge if limited supply meets pent-up demand.

Some experts, however, urge a cautious approach. Leo Sun, an analyst at U.S. financial media outlet The Motley Fool, commented, “OpenAI and Anthropic will attract significant attention right after their IPOs, but the enthusiasm could cool quickly if the market focuses on their high valuations and net losses.” He added, “Unfavorable comparisons with AI infrastructure companies and questions about whether they can keep pace with Chinese open-source competitors may arise.” Sun noted that if these challenges are priced into the shares, they could eventually fall back to or below their IPO prices, suggesting there is no reason to rush into pre-IPO investments.

Secondary Markets and SPVs Are Options for Accredited Investors

Meanwhile, accredited investors—those with a net worth of at least $1 million (excluding primary residence) or annual income exceeding $200,000—can purchase shares directly from employees or early investors on secondary markets such as Forge Global, Hiive, and EquityZen. Companies like Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) have also launched products that indirectly hold private shares of OpenAI and Anthropic through specially created SPVs.

However, OpenAI and Anthropic strictly restrict secondary market transactions and retain the legal right to void such trades. In that scenario, shares acquired through secondary markets or SPVs risk becoming worthless before the IPO.

By comparison, mutual funds and ETFs such as the ARK Venture Fund (Nasdaq Mutual Fund: ARKVX) or the Fundrise Innovation Fund (NYSE: VCX) hold stakes through institutional SPVs directly guaranteed by the underlying companies, making them relatively safer from invalidation risk. That said, these funds can also trade at prices significantly above their actual NAV if proxy demand surges ahead of an IPO, and after the actual listing, fund prices could plummet as investors sell out of the funds to switch into the real shares. The Motley Fool reported that many investors who put money into proxy funds without checking NAV suffered heavy losses when SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) went public.

As enthusiasm for investing in unlisted AI companies heats up, experts unanimously advise that investors carefully scrutinize product structures, price dislocations, and regulatory risks.