FUNDRISE LAUNCHES FIRST OF ITS KIND $1 BILLION VENTURE FUND, AVAILABLE TO ANYONE IN THE US, REGARDLESS OF NET WORTH

New "Innovation Fund" democratizes venture investing for individual investors as Fundrise expands beyond Real Estate

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fundrise, the country's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform, today announced the launch of its "Innovation Fund," a publicly registered tender offer fund that aims to invest in late-stage venture capital (VC) and private growth equity investments. The Fund, which will target an initial offering of $1 billion, is open to all US residents for a minimum investment of $10. This is the first time any individual investor has been able to invest directly in a growth equity venture fund, and it comes at a time when the institutional VC industry is playing defense. Turning the table on the traditional script, individual investors can now play offense to take advantage of the downturn in the tech industry due to the current economic environment.

Traditionally, investing in fast-growing technology companies, either through venture capital or late-stage growth equity, has remained almost entirely inaccessible to individuals, with the vast majority of all capital in the space coming from large institutions. Beyond that, a small number of fund managers act as gatekeepers granting access only to those able to invest tens of millions of dollars. With falling tech valuations and most traditional venture capital funds attempting to weather the impacts of increasing interest rates, now is the best time for a new entrant to bring a differentiated source of capital to the space.

"The irony is that venture capital is all about funding disruption, yet as an industry it hasn't evolved and utilizes almost no technology. We're changing that," said Ben Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise. "We started Fundrise with a simple idea, that individual investors deserved access to the same high-quality investments as institutions and the ultra wealthy, and we've spent the past 10 years proving it was possible in the real estate industry. Now we're turning our attention to the tech industry, to show that the same innovation that allowed us to become one of the fastest growing real estate investors can be applied to the world of growth equity and venture capital."

Today, Fundrise is the country's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform with more than 300,000 individual investors and more than $2.8 billion of equity under management. With the move into technology investments, as discussed by Co-Founder and CEO Ben Miller in the latest Fundrise podcast episode, the platform seeks to expand from a real estate investment platform to an "everything investment" platform, opening up access to the private markets more broadly in an effort to further their mission.

Fundrise was founded in 2012 with the mission to build a better financial system by empowering individuals. The company, a remote-first organization, now has more than 300 employees working across the country.

Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor real estate investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to use technology to build a better financial system for the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in the private markets—all at the touch of a button. To date, we've transacted over $7 billion worth of real estate, and currently manage over $2.8 billion in equity, on behalf of our more than 300,000 active investors. You can learn more about Fundrise at Fundrise.com.

SOURCE Fundrise