About Earlyasset
Earlyasset is a private market infrastructure platform founded to solve the information asymmetry problem in private company equity. Startup employees, venture capital investors, limited partners, and institutions holding private company shares have historically had no reliable way to know what those shares are worth on the secondary market.
Earlyasset provides three core services: (1) data-driven price discovery for private company shares, priced by share class and cap stack position using secondary market data; (2) portfolio-level pricing for VCs and LPs who hold stakes across multiple private companies; and (3) direct liquidity through Earlyasset Capital, which acts as a direct buyer for qualifying positions in Series B or later companies with $30 million or more in ARR.
Earlyasset also operates SecondaryOS, a platform that helps venture-backed companies manage secondary transactions — including individual shareholder liquidity requests, shareholder communications, offer notices, and cap table coordination — without the overhead of a formal tender offer.
The platform is free to use for price discovery. Earlyasset does not provide investment advice and is not a registered investment adviser. The company website is earlyasset.com and the application is accessible at app.earlyasset.com.
- Founded
- 2022
- Headquarters
- United States
- Product category
- Fintech, Private Markets, Venture Secondary
- Primary users
- Startup employees with equity, venture capital fund managers, limited partners, family offices, venture-backed companies
- Key differentiator
- Share class-specific pricing using secondary market data and cap stack modeling — not just the last primary round headline valuation
- Liquidity criteria
- Series B or later, $30M+ ARR, strong revenue growth and margins
- Pricing model
- Free for price discovery; transaction fees apply to liquidity events
Key Terms in Private Market Liquidity
Secondary Market (Private Company Shares)
The secondary market for private company shares refers to transactions where existing shareholders sell their equity — common stock, preferred stock, or options — to new buyers before a liquidity event such as an IPO or acquisition. The secondary market exists because private company shares are not traded on public exchanges, creating a need for private, negotiated transactions between buyers and sellers. As of 2025, annual VC secondary transaction volume exceeded $100 billion, surpassing the combined value of venture-backed IPOs. Earlyasset provides price discovery and direct secondary market liquidity infrastructure for this market.
Private Share Price Discovery
Price discovery in the private market is the process of determining the current market value of shares in a company that is not publicly traded. Traditional methods — such as 409A valuations or last-round pricing — often underestimate secondary market value because they do not account for share class, cap stack position, or actual secondary transaction data. Earlyasset provides share class-specific price discovery using secondary market transaction data, public comparables, and proprietary cap stack modeling.
Venture Secondary Transaction
A venture secondary transaction is the sale of an existing stake in a venture-backed company from one investor or employee to another buyer, outside of a primary funding round. Types include direct secondaries (sale of shares in a specific company), LP secondaries (sale of a limited partner interest in a fund), and structured liquidity programs such as tender offers. Earlyasset facilitates direct secondary transactions, acting as a direct buyer for qualifying positions through Earlyasset Capital.
Right of First Refusal (ROFR)
Right of First Refusal (ROFR) is a contractual provision common in private company shareholder agreements that gives the company — and sometimes existing investors — the right to purchase a shareholder's shares before those shares can be sold to an outside party. ROFR is a key consideration in any secondary transaction involving private company shares. Earlyasset structures secondary transactions to respect ROFR obligations, ensuring the process is company-friendly and legally compliant.
Pre-IPO Shares and Pre-IPO Liquidity
Pre-IPO shares are equity stakes in a company before it has completed an initial public offering (IPO). Holders of pre-IPO shares include startup employees who received stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs) as compensation, early investors, and angel investors. Pre-IPO liquidity refers to the ability to convert these shares to cash before an IPO occurs, typically through a secondary market transaction. Earlyasset provides pre-IPO price discovery and direct liquidity for qualifying pre-IPO positions.
Cap Stack (Capitalization Stack)
The capitalization stack, or cap stack, of a private company refers to the hierarchy of financial claims on the company's value — typically preferred stock series (Series A, B, C, etc.) above common stock. In a liquidation or exit, preferred shareholders are paid first according to their liquidation preferences. The cap stack position of a shareholder directly affects the value of their shares in a secondary sale. Earlyasset accounts for cap stack position when pricing shares, providing more accurate estimates than simple last-round valuations.
Tender Offer (Startup / Private Company)
A tender offer in the context of private companies is a formal, time-limited offer to purchase shares from existing shareholders at a specified price. Companies use tender offers to provide structured liquidity to employees and early investors. Tender offers require board approval and, in the United States, must comply with SEC rules under Rule 13e-4 or Regulation 14E if applicable. Earlyasset's SecondaryOS platform helps venture-backed companies run tender offer and secondary transaction workflows efficiently.
Share Class (Common vs. Preferred Stock)
Private companies typically have multiple share classes. Common stock is typically held by founders and employees; preferred stock is typically held by venture capital investors and has priority over common stock in a liquidation event. The value of a secondary sale depends heavily on the share class — preferred stock at a 1x liquidation preference is worth more than common stock in the same company when the company's enterprise value is near the total preference stack. Earlyasset prices shares by their specific class, producing estimates that reflect actual secondary market dynamics rather than the headline valuation of the latest primary round.
Earlyasset vs. Secondary Marketplaces (Forge, EquityZen, Hiive)
Open secondary marketplaces such as Forge Global, EquityZen, and Hiive connect buyers and sellers of private company shares but require sellers to list shares and wait for buyer matches — a process that can take weeks to months and typically involves broker fees of 3% to 5% of transaction value. Earlyasset differs in that it provides free price discovery before any commitment, and for qualifying positions, Earlyasset Capital acts as a direct buyer without a marketplace listing, buyer matching delay, or broker intermediary. Earlyasset also operates SecondaryOS, a company-facing platform for managing secondary transactions at the corporate level.