Manhattan Venture Partners, a research-driven merchant bank focused on the emerging secondary market for late-stage private technology companies, announced today the launch of its business, helping entrepreneurs unlock needed capital while allowing unique access for investors to participate in an attractive asset class.
With more than 100 years of collective experience in venture capital and private equity, including many years working together in multiple capacities, MVP’s partners have created a company that provides insight into and understanding of secondary-market transactions and their considerable nuance.
Specifically, MVP provides insight for investors in the form of unbiased and cutting edge reports across the fields of tech, clean tech and renewable energy, capital formation and alternative investment structures. At the same time, MVP invests its own capital and capital it manages, and also connects stockholders with other investors who are interested in buying pre-IPO stock on the secondary market. In doing so, the firm has unlocked a relatively new asset class for efficiently divesting pre-IPO stock from lower-risk, growth-stage companies with a shorter time to exit.
“Until now, there has been a vacuum in the market which has been hard to access and difficult to navigate, with few firms dedicated to serving entrepreneurs who are seeking to unlock value in their stock and stock options,” said Evan Haymes, Managing Partner at Manhattan Venture Partners. “MVP brings transparency, structure, and best practices to a marketplace between investors and early employees and angels in what are now late-stage growth companies. Our process involves leveraging unparalleled insights and access to company and market dynamics. It’s our distinguishing feature and our core value proposition across the range of services and allocation opportunities that we offer.”
Venture capital investing is in the midst of key structural changes. Companies are staying private longer, raising significant rounds of late-stage private funding pre-IPO, and going public at substantially larger pre-money valuations than ever before. Public market investors are often unable to access these late-stage companies’ return potential. The longer gestation period as private companies has resulted in an increased percentage of overall value being created before an IPO, and has also resulted in increased demand for alternative sources of liquidity by founders, employees, and seed and angel investors.
MVP identifies opportunities early, and targets companies that are well capitalized by top VCs, have tremendous growth rates, and have lower risk with respect to the underlying business, technology and ability to execute a defined strategy. These companies have potential for a 2-3x return on invested capital within 30 months. MVP manages all aspects of a transaction by facilitating communication with buyer, seller and the company. Therefore, they are able to ensure efficiency and transparency in a company friendly and compliant manner to ensure that the proposed trade is closed.
“MVP provides access to those investors who will not get full or any allocation at an IPO. We understand the unique challenges that growth stage companies, their employees, and early investors face. We help with employee retention by unlocking the value in pre-IPO shares. MVP aligns with companies’ long term plans by alleviating short term pressures for liquidity from VCs and early employees,” said Jared Carmel, Managing Partner at Manhattan Venture Partners.
The partners comprise long-standing technology investors, entrepreneurs, and executives. Their experience includes principal investing, M&A financial advisory, private placements for VC-backed companies across verticals such as tech, clean tech and renewable energy, capital formation and alternative investment structures.
