MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AST Private Company Solutions™ (AST PCS) today introduced a new strategic partnership with Liquid Stock, the venture capital-like investment fund providing bespoke liquidity solutions to pre-IPO companies, their investors and employees. Shareholders and CFOs using PCS’s new Astrella™ capitalization (cap) table and ownership data management platform will now be able to seamlessly access Liquid Stock to more efficiently facilitate liquidity financing that is non-recourse, tax-efficient and does not require the sale of shares.
AST PCS, the Silicon Valley-based unit of ownership data management leader AST, recently launched Astrella as a transformative technology in private company shareholder management. The new cloud-based software-as-a-service platform brings together private blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics, and was built with an API-based ecosystem to quickly integrate with innovative new providers in the private markets, such as Liquid Stock—a fund backed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Coller Capital and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (AIP).
The agreement is the latest among a group of partners that AST PCS has recently announced, including 409A valuation leaders Economics Partners and Derivatas and digital documentation and storage giant Box. These strategic relationships deliver on a diverse array of private shareholder requirements, with common objectives including rapid data access and availability, efficient reporting workflow for private company ownership, and the best possible end-to-end user experience. With the Liquid Stock tie-up, these benefits now extend to the market for unrealized equity compensation and secondaries trading, which is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and is growing quickly under today’s uncertain economic conditions.
“Liquid Stock was born of financial innovation reaching back over two decades serving companies and employees in Silicon Valley,” says Robert Pitti, cofounder at Liquid Stock. “This market has evolved tremendously over time and today it demands far more technological and data management sophistication, as options are exercised and shares bought and sold more frequently and in ways they have never before. We respect the leadership team has built Astrella greatly, and felt this connection lent an excellent opportunity to avail our fund to a much larger array of startups and companies. We are extremely pleased to partner with them.”
Adds AST PCS president Carine Schneider: “Liquid Stock’s approach to creative financing is some of the best proof we have yet that well-known, leading investors are willing to take a bet on modernizing private equity compensation markets. As these markets continue to grow, we expect to see still more of these partners come in, and introduce an approach that is nimble and thoughtfully risk-managed. As they do, many have also acknowledged the need for enterprise-grade technology partners who can manage data and transact with these companies and individuals. In this sense, we feel a sense of validation and are looking forward to serving our joint clients.”
About Liquid Stock
Closed in 2019 with limited partners including Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Morgan Stanley AIP, and Coller Capital, Liquid Stock is a $161 million investment fund serving the needs of individual equity compensation holders and private companies looking to facilitate the sale of their options or shares, by using tax-efficient, non-recourse and risk-minimized financing solutions. Deploying decades of experience among its partners working across venture capital funding, private equity, secondaries brokerage and trading, the fund is bringing needed innovation and solutions to those looking to realize value on hard-earned options and shares without the need for selling them directly or initiating a loan. Learn more at liquidstock.com.
About AST Private Company Solutions, Inc.
Founded in 2019, AST PCS is an affiliate of AST and is focused on serving private companies worldwide. Astrella, a cloud-based SaaS solution, allows private companies to manage their ownership data, including the cap table and employee equity plans and to connect directly with related service providers to support efficient workflow, and provide access to investors, advisors and employees. For more information, visit www.astrella.com.
