Akkadian Ventures

What Akkadian Ventures does

Akkadian Ventures is a direct secondary investment firm founded in 2010 by Ben Black and Peter Smith that provides liquidity solutions to early employees, founders, angels, and venture investors in private technology companies. Headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado with an additional San Francisco presence, the firm operates as an SEC-registered investment adviser alongside affiliated entities Akkadian CEF Manager, LLC and Powerlaw Fund Adviser, LLC, and owns RAISE Conferences, LLC. As of September 5, 2025, Akkadian and its affiliated advisers manage $1.27 billion in assets under management across 97 portfolio companies with 43 exits, having completed more than 750 transactions over fifteen years of operation.

The firm's platform is organized around three core products. The Growth-Stage Venture Secondary Strategy acquires preferred and common stock secondaries, structured liquidity solutions, and option exercise loans in companies with $20M+ revenue growing 30%+ annually, deploying $1M-$40M per deal across AI, SaaS, infrastructure, robotics, proptech, and financial services. The Seed-Stage Strategy leverages RAISE Global relationships to back emerging fund managers and build diversified portfolios of 350-500 seed-stage companies. RAISE Global is a separately branded conference and community platform connecting 2,000+ LPs with 3,000+ emerging managers, generating proprietary deal flow and capital-formation synergies. Powerlaw Corp (Nasdaq: PWRL), which listed via direct listing in May 2026 with $604M-$662M NAV, is a publicly traded closed-end fund managed by Akkadian CEF Manager, LLC that provides retail investors access to private technology holdings.

The business model combines recurring management and adviser fees on AUM with transaction-based economics from secondary deals and GP-led co-investments. The firm generates revenue through Akkadian Ventures LLC and Akkadian CEF Manager, LLC (both SEC-registered investment advisers), serving institutional LPs, accredited investors, founders, employees, and venture firms through relationship-driven direct engagement, supplemented by the RAISE Global community platform and the Nasdaq-listed Powerlaw Corp for retail distribution.

Name

Akkadian Ventures

Legal name

Akkadian Ventures LLC

Website

https://akkadian.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Akkadian Ventures is a direct secondary investment firm founded in 2010 that provides liquidity to early employees, founders, angels, and venture investors through preferred and common stock secondaries, structured solutions, and the Powerlaw Corp Nasdaq-listed closed-end fund, supported by the RAISE Global community of 5,000+ venture professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Secondary Market Investments

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSANAGAF

Emerging Manager / Seeding Platforms (Multi-Manager)

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Fund-of-Funds / Multi-Manager Platforms

SECONDARYFSANAGAL

Managed Account / SMA Multi-Manager Platforms

Financial & Insurance/Private Equity & Venture Capital/Fund-of-Funds / Multi-Manager Platforms

Keywords

• Venture secondary investments
• Private market liquidity
• Closed-end fund management
• Venture capital advisory
• Secondary market transactions

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: Investment adviser fees from managing venture funds and the Powerlaw Corp closed-end fund. Akkadian Ventures LLC and Akkadian CEF Manager, LLC are both SEC-registered investment advisers.
2. Secondary Transaction Fees: Fees from facilitating secondary transactions including preferred & common stock secondaries, structured liquidity solutions, and option exercise loans for company stakeholders.
3. GP-led Co-Investments: Revenue from co-investment opportunities in growth-stage companies alongside primary investors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Akkadian Ventures is a venture capital firm that provides strategic liquidity solutions to early employees, founders, angels, and small investors in venture-backed companies through preferred and common stock secondaries, structured liquidity solutions, option exercise loans, and GP-led co-investments. The firm manages $1.27B in AUM across 97 portfolio companies and operates the RAISE Global venture community alongside the Nasdaq-listed Powerlaw Corp closed-end fund.

Product overview

Akkadian Ventures is a multi-strategy venture capital investment platform offering two distinct investment strategies and a proprietary community platform. The Growth-Stage Venture Secondary Strategy targets established private companies seeking liquidity, while the Seed-Stage Strategy focuses on emerging fund managers. The proprietary RAISE Global conference platform connects the venture ecosystem, serving as a gateway to emerging venture opportunities. The firm also manages Powerlaw Corp., a publicly traded closed-end fund (NASDAQ: PWRL) providing retail access to private technology companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Growth-Stage Venture Secondary Strategy
• Seed-Stage Strategy
• RAISE Global
• Powerlaw Corp (NASDAQ: PWRL)

Quantifiable outcome

• 43 portfolio exits achieved
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• RAISE Global / RAISE Conferences LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016RAISE Global is an affiliated entity owned and managed by RAISE Conferences, LLC. It serves as Akkadian's premier launchpad platform connecting LPs to emerging venture managers. The community has grown to 5,000+ venture professionals, 2,000+ LPs, and 3,000+ emerging managers since 2016.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• AngelList: AngelList operates a venture platform with secondary fund vehicles and rolling funds. It intersects with Akkadian's seed-stage strategy and emerging-manager exposure, providing an alternative venue for LP capital in venture.
• MicroVentures: MicroVentures offers retail investors access to private company investments and venture funds. Like Powerlaw Corp, it competes for retail capital seeking private-tech exposure, though Akkadian's Nasdaq listing is a more institutional distribution model.
• Wefunder: Wefunder enables retail investors to invest in private startups and funds under Regulation Crowdfunding. It is adjacent to Akkadian's Powerlaw Corp retail thesis of democratizing private-company access, though in earlier-stage deals.

Direct peers

• Forge Global: Forge Global runs one of the largest private company secondary marketplaces, facilitating share transactions across late-stage private companies. It competes with Akkadian on secondary deal flow, particularly in the growth-stage segment Akkadian targets.
• EquityZen: EquityZen operates a secondary marketplace for shares of pre-IPO companies, serving employees, investors, and institutions seeking liquidity. It directly competes with Akkadian's secondary transaction business for deal flow in venture-backed private companies.
• Hiive: Hiive is a secondary marketplace for private company shares targeting venture-backed growth companies. It competes directly with Akkadian's secondary platform in the same buyer/seller ecosystem.
• SharesPost: SharesPost provides a private company secondary marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of pre-IPO shares. It overlaps with Akkadian's secondary transaction focus and similar growth-stage issuer profile.
• Carta (Secondary Services): Carta provides cap table management and increasingly offers secondary liquidity programs for private company stakeholders. It competes with Akkadian in enabling employee and investor liquidity, though its primary business is broader cap table administration.

Others

• GP Bullhound (Secondary Advisory): GP Bullhound provides advisory services for private company secondary transactions and tech M&A. It is adjacent rather than direct competition but shares Akkadian's transaction-oriented orientation in private tech.

Broad incumbents

• Nasdaq Private Market: Nasdaq Private Market operates institutional-grade secondary trading for private company shares as part of Nasdaq's broader capital-markets franchise. It competes with Akkadian for secondary transactions and provides comparable liquidity solutions at greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/akkadianvc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/akkadian-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments58 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Akkadian Ventures