Forge Completes Merger with SharesPost, Showcasing Unprecedented Depth of Private Market Data

Combined company provides the data, technology and expertise to fuel the private market economy

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forge Global, Inc. (“Forge”), has completed its merger with SharesPost, establishing one of the leading global private securities marketplaces serving the liquidity needs of high-growth unicorn companies and their employees and connecting investors to private market investment opportunities.

Through the merger, Forge expands its ability to provide liquidity and transparency to the private markets at scale and accelerates its position as a leading source of historical private market data for private companies and investors. The combined entity has facilitated thousands of trades, resulting in more than $7.74 billion in private market transaction volume, for hundreds of private companies. Forge now serves a combined customer base of more than 1 million.

“Forge is in an incredible position, as more companies and investors take advantage of the rapidly advancing opportunities in the private markets. Companies are able to stay private longer, execute price discovery and smoothly transition to the public markets, while investors receive access to unicorn stocks and benefit from companies’ pre-IPO growth phases,” said Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge. “Through this merger, we are building on our robust technology platform and deep expertise to enhance our marketplace and accelerate support for company liquidity solutions, trust services and data offerings to help companies and investors better understand trends and pricing so they can make decisions that benefit them.”

Forge will expand its current platform, improving the marketplace with more pricing data, providing private companies with a more efficient, and a more discreet and systematic way of offering liquidity and option financing solutions to equity holders, in addition to providing institutional quality custody of non-traded assets to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for taxable and tax-advantaged accounts. Future platform offerings will focus on the company’s ability to provide key insights on private-market trends.

About Forge

As private market innovators, Forge serves the complex and emerging needs of the private market ecosystem by forging new connections through our technology, data and expertise. Founded in 2014, the firm empowers investors and shareholders by enabling liquidity in the private markets. Forge was founded by Y Combinator alumni and backed by top Silicon Valley investors and large, global institutions including Peter Thiel, FT Partners, Draper Associates, Munich Re, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse.