Robinhood's $75 million OpenAI stake opens doors for retail investors to access AI giant

Robinhood's venture fund invests $75 million in OpenAI

April 22 (Reuters) - Robinhood's venture fund has invested $75 million in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, it said on Wednesday, aiming to broaden retail investor access to high-profile, privately held technology companies. OpenAI has become one of the most closely watched companies in generative AI, propelled by the viral success of its chatbot ChatGPT. Its rise has helped fuel a wave of investment and competition across Big Tech and startups ⁠alike, as companies race to build and commercialize AI tools, drawing billions of dollars into the sector. Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI.N), opens new tab, which went public in March, aims to give retail investors access to private company investments long dominated by Silicon Valley's largest venture capital firms. Once known mainly as a trading app for retail investors, Robinhood has since expanded into a broader financial services platform, helping push ⁠its market capitalization to nearly $78 billion. The company's shares were last up 3.6% before the bell on the news. The investment also signals a thawing of tensions between the two companies, which flared last summer when Robinhood ⁠said it would grant 5 euros worth of blockchain-based "stock tokens" for private companies, including OpenAI and SpaceX. Tokenized equities mix traditional finance with crypto-like ⁠trading, and have been gaining traction among international investors due to better access, flexible trading hours and lower costs. OpenAI later said ⁠it had not partnered with Robinhood, did not endorse the tokens and was not involved in the offering. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara and Tasim Zahid Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Retail traders can now get long OpenAI as Robinhood's venture fund takes a stake

Robinhood's proprietary investment vehicle for retail investors has taken a small stake in privately held OpenAI, the trading company announced Wednesday. The Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI), which provides investors with exposure to several private tech companies, invested $75 million in the artificial intelligence giant. The fund went public and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange this March. "OpenAI is one of the frontier artificial intelligence companies, and we are incredibly proud to add them to the Fund," said Sarah Pinto, president of Robinhood Ventures Fund I, in a statement. "As one of RVI's largest investments to date, this underscores our core mission to provide everyday investors with access to what we believe are transformative companies shaping the future." The stake is relatively small compared with OpenAI's massive multibillion-dollar funding rounds, though still a meaningful position that provides exposure to one of the most influential players in artificial intelligence.

Robinhood Ventures buys OpenAI shares

Why it matters: It's the clearest avenue yet for retail investors to get access to shares of the AI giant before it goes public. Driving the news: Robinhood Ventures Fund I, ticker RVI, acts as something of a mutual fund retail investors can buy into, but it contains shares of private companies. * Those companies include some of the biggest names expected to IPO at some point in the coming years if not sooner, including Databricks, Stripe, Ramp, Oura, and now OpenAI. * Shares are up 12% pre-market on the news. Zoom out: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev told Axios last year that he thinks the company's ability to democratize investment in private companies could be its biggest move ever. * That's saying something given the degree to which Robinhood broke the retail investing model in the first place by bringing fee-free trading to mobile devices. * The fund has no minimum to invest, no accreditation requirement or performance fee, though it does carry a 3.13% expense ratio according to stats on the Robinhood app. Reality check: At OpenAI's current post-money valuation of $852 billion, the $75 million would equate to less than one share. (Axios has reached out to confirm the purchase price.) * Retail traders can also gain access to OpenAI shares through a couple of other funds, including Cathie Wood's ARK Invest. Flashback: OpenAI and Robinhood had a kerfuffle last year, when Robinhood said it had tokenized shares of the AI business. But OpenAI said no equity transfer had been approved Axios' Lucinda Shen reported. * Robinhood later said those shares were held in a special-purpose vehicle, and that they aren't technically equity. * Now, Robinhood is an enterprise customer of OpenAI. The bottom line: As OpenAI gets closer to potentially going public, retail investors are clamoring for access to shares.

Robinhood Ventures Invests $75 Million in OpenAI, Offering Retail Traders Exposure - Decrypt

The fund's portfolio includes Stripe, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Ramp, and Revolut alongside its new OpenAI position. Robinhood Ventures Fund I purchased approximately $75 million of OpenAI common stock, the fund announced Wednesday, letting retail investors who buy shares in Robinhood's publicly traded fund get exposure to the AI giant. The investment represents a significant addition to RVI's concentrated portfolio of high-growth private companies, which includes Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Mercor, Oura, Ramp, Revolut, and Stripe. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT recently valued at $852 billion, marks one of the fund's largest single investments since launch. "OpenAI is one of the frontier artificial intelligence companies, and we are incredibly proud to add them to the Fund," said Sarah Pinto, president of Robinhood Ventures Fund I, in a statement. "As one of RVI's largest investments to date, this underscores our core mission to provide everyday investors with access to what we believe are transformative companies shaping the future." RVI's structure as a closed-end fund enables retail investors to access private company valuations through standard brokerage accounts. The fund eliminates barriers that typically restrict private market investments to wealthy accredited investors, including high minimum thresholds and complex investment structures. The timing aligns with growing retail interest in AI investments across crypto-adjacent platforms. Robinhood's push into AI exposure comes as traditional finance and crypto platforms increasingly compete for retail investment dollars in emerging technology sectors. The fund's public listing allows investors to trade shares like any stock, providing liquidity that direct private investments lack. The investment highlights a significant shift in market composition, with the number of publicly traded companies in the U.S. falling from 7,000 in 2000 to 4,000 last year. Meanwhile, private companies have grown to outnumber public companies by more than 6.5 times as of April 2024, with the estimated value of private firms surpassing $10 trillion in the first quarter of 2025. Led by Sam Altman, OpenAI is one of the largest players in the frontier AI space, competing with fellow startup Anthropic -- the maker of Claude -- and tech giant Google with its Gemini series of models.

Robinhood fund invests $75M in OpenAI By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Robinhood Ventures Fund I (NYSE:RVI) announced Wednesday it has closed an investment in OpenAI. On April 17, RVI purchased approximately $75 million of common stock of OpenAI. Sarah Pinto, President of Robinhood Ventures Fund I, said OpenAI is one of the frontier artificial intelligence companies. She added that as one of RVI's largest investments to date, this underscores the fund's core mission to provide everyday investors with access to what the fund believes are transformative companies shaping the future. RVI aims to expand access to private markets, which have traditionally been out of reach to everyday investors. The fund positions this investment as a way to help further Robinhood's mission to democratize finance. The number of publicly traded companies in the US has fallen from about 7,000 in the year 2000 to about 4,000 in 2025. Companies are staying private longer and growing in both number and value. As of April 2024, there were more than 6.5 times as many private companies as public, and the estimated value of these firms in the US surpassed $10 trillion in the first quarter of 2025. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Robinhood's venture fund invests $75 million in OpenAI

April 22 (Reuters) - Robinhood's venture fund has invested $75 million in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, it said on Wednesday, aiming to broaden retail investor access to high-profile, privately held technology companies. OpenAI has become one of the most closely watched companies in generative AI, propelled by the viral success of its chatbot ChatGPT. Its rise has helped fuel a wave of investment and competition across Big Tech and startups alike, as companies race to build and commercialize AI tools, drawing billions of dollars into the sector. Robinhood Ventures Fund I, which went public in March, aims to give retail investors access to private company investments long dominated by Silicon Valley's largest venture capital firms. Once known mainly as a trading app for retail investors, Robinhood has since expanded into a broader financial services platform, helping push its market capitalization to nearly $78 billion. The company's shares were last up 3.6% before the bell on the news. The investment also signals a thawing of tensions between the two companies, which flared last summer when Robinhood said it would grant 5 euros worth of blockchain-based "stock tokens" for private companies, including OpenAI and SpaceX. Tokenized equities mix traditional finance with crypto-like trading, and have been gaining traction among international investors due to better access, flexible trading hours and lower costs. OpenAI later said it had not partnered with Robinhood, did not endorse the tokens and was not involved in the offering. (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara and Tasim Zahid)