Dan Ives Launches $200 Million Fund to Invest in Private AI Companies

Dan Ives Debuts Closed-End Fund for Private AI Companies

Dan Ives has launched a closed-end fund designed to give retail investors access to private AI companies driving the AI revolution1

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. The Ives Ultra AI Opportunities fund raised $200 million through an IPO, selling 20 million shares at $10 apiece1

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. Shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on September 30 under ticker IVAI2

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. This marks a shift in how investors can participate in the AI boom, traditionally dominated by venture capital and institutional players.

Ives, a partner and analyst at Yorkville Ives & Co., told CNBC that the fund aims to create "a public vehicle to buy some of these great private companies"1

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. He emphasized that "in this AI revolution, so many of the companies leading it will be private"1

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. The fund positions itself as the first publicly traded closed-end fund built specifically to channel retail investor capital into private AI companies2

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Targeting Late-Stage AI Companies and AI Startups

The fund will invest primarily in equity and equity-related securities of late-stage AI companies in the United States4

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. According to regulatory filings, 80% of fund net assets are earmarked for companies centered on AI, with an emphasis on private late-stage AI companies located in the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, non-U.S. companies1

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. The fund may also invest up to 15% of the portfolio in private funds to further gain exposure to AI startups1

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Ives Ultra Capital Management serves as the fund's investment adviser, with Ives on its board3

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. However, Dan Ives is not the fund's portfolio manager and does not serve on its investment committee2

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. Edward Leathers, president and chief executive of the adviser, is the sole member of the investment committee responsible for day-to-day portfolio management2

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. The fund will charge total annual expenses of 3.1% on gross assets1

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Opening Access to Retail Investors

The fund addresses a significant gap in the market. About two-thirds of Americans believe they aren't able to access the highest-growth companies that are private, according to a July survey of more than 2,000 adults commissioned by DealMaker1

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. A little more than half of respondents said they believed that the stock market was not the best place to build wealth, despite its rally to new records this year1

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"It shouldn't just be a handful of people in Silicon Valley that could own these companies," Ives said1

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. To help limit the discount that closed-end funds can sometimes trade relative to their underlying assets, the fund plans to offer shareholders a tender option during the first year after going public3

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. Investors can sell shares back at 100% of the fund's net asset value3

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. Any shares that are not tendered will leave the fund with cash that Ives Ultra can put to work in new investments3

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Growing Trend in Private Market Investing

Private market investing has increasingly moved towards public markets this year, with several permanent capital vehicles launching to hold stakes in privately owned companies3

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. Robinhood Markets introduced two funds, while Powerlaw Corp. and the Fundrise Innovation Fund have also entered the market, allowing investors another avenue to gain exposure to private technology businesses without directly holding private company shares3

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Ives previously led global technology research at Wedbush Securities until July, when he departed to launch his own investment bank, Yorkville Ives & Co.3

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. He said private companies will be "the golden goose" and lead much of the spending on AI in coming years1

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. Leading AI developers OpenAI and Anthropic earlier this year both filed confidentially to go public, though OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently ruled out a 2026 IPO for the ChatGPT platform, citing the debate over adding safety guardrails1

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. "There's a lot of twists and turns going on in the AI trade," Ives said. "Don't get lost in the negative narratives"1

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