Pershing Square plans pre-IPO venture fund

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is preparing a venture fund that would give investors access to companies before they go public.

Pershing Square Ventures will be structured as an evergreen permanent-capital vehicle. It will be able to continue holding companies after an initial public offering.

The fund’s initial portfolio will include recent private investments held on Pershing Square’s balance sheet. Selected investments from Ackman’s family office will also be contributed.

Ackman said the vehicle is intended to give ordinary investors earlier access to fast-growing companies. He cited SpaceX, X and xAI as examples of investments he entered at lower private-market valuations.

Pershing Square is targeting a launch this fall or by the end of the year. The firm plans to file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The vehicle will invest across a broad range of private-company valuations, from hundreds of millions of dollars to more than $10 billion.

Ackman said the fund will start small and is not expected to materially increase Pershing Square’s assets under management at launch.

The plan follows a wave of publicly traded funds focused on private companies, including offerings from Robinhood, Fundrise and Powerlaw.