Public has Acquired Carta’s Private Market Business. What’s Next?
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The online broker, Public, has acquired the secondary marketplace brokerage accounts of Carta, a capitalization table software startup.
Carta came under heat early in 2024 when one of its cap table customers accused it of using data about the company’s investor base to try to sell shares on its secondary platform.
This prompted the Carta CEO to move to exit the business in January. The only thing missing was a buyer.
Axios’s Lucinda Chen broke this story with very few reporters picking up the story and no press releases. In her words:
Public does not run a startup share business, nor does it seem interested in jumping into the fray. This seems largely a bet that former users of Carta’s marketplace business will stay with Public to trade public stocks, corporate bonds, or use any of Public’s other services.
It could be true that Public isn’t interested in pre-IPO investments, or maybe it’s conjecture.
I’m more optimistic.
Public is making it easy to invest in a slew of assets, including:
- Stocks/ETFs
- Options
- Bonds
- High-Yield Cash
- A Bond Fund
- Treasuries
- Crypto
- Music Royalties from the Shrek Movie Franchise
- And “even more investment opportunities coming soon”
Public joins a list of brokers, like M1 Finance, Robinhood, SoFi, and Titan, that offer products beyond traditional brokerage services to attract new investors.
Could this be a nod to a new product offering?
Venture capital could fit nicely here, offering another alternative asset to investors craving pre-IPO returns.
Public is among the most logical next partners to access Cathie Wood’s ARK Venture Fund, or maybe it has something else up its sleeve with this acquisition. Something to watch.
Craig Stephens is a former IT professional who left his 19-year consulting career at the IRS to be a full-time finance writer. A DIY investor since 1995, he started Access IPOs in 2016 to provide a resource for ordinary investors pursuing access to IPOs. Craig studied Finance at Michigan State University and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children. Learn more about Craig.
