An individual who owns at least $5 million in Qualified Investments;
A family business or trust that owns at least $5 million in Qualified Investments;
A corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, or tax-exempt organization where each beneficial owner is a Qualified Purchaser;
A trust that was not formed for the specific purpose of investing in the product, so long as both the persons with decision making power and each of the contributors to the trust is a Qualified Purchaser; or
A corporation, partnership, or trust with at least $25 million in Qualified Investments.

Note: We are actively exploring investment pathways for non-Qualified Purchasers, if you do not currently meet Qualified Purchaser status please feel free to reach out to our team at operations@equiam.com for the latest update.

I am located abroad (or my entity is located abroad); can I invest?

Certainly; as long as the required compliance checks are completed (accreditation, background and ID checks for regulation, Anti-Money Laundering and Office of Foreign Assets Control list, etc.), from a U.S. perspective, you are eligible to invest. These are required for all customers, whether domestic or international.

Additionally, the fund has been structurally established in a manner that is particularly attractive to an international investors. We have established a Cayman Master fund with a Cayman-based feeder fund for International and U.S. tax-exempt investors and a Delaware feeder fund for U.S. investors.

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Who are EQUIAM's 3rd-party legal, administrative, and audit firms?

EQUIAM's outside counsel is Dechert LLP for U.S. matters and Ogier for Cayman matters. EQUIAM's fund administrator, MaplesFS, is a global organization with a proven track record of providing premier fund administrative services. EQUIAM funds are audited by KPMG on an annual basis.

Please note that we do not provide legal counsel to investors. All parties are responsible for making sure they understand the benefits and risks of this asset class and any associated transaction.

Can I invest through an IRA?

Yes. We’ve partnered with AltoIRA to enable seamless investment into EQUIAM funds. Alto is an IRA platform that helps you create Traditional, Roth or SEP IRAs specifically designed for investing in alternative assets. Alto will help you create a brand new Alternative IRA, and fund it using retirement dollars from an existing IRA/401(k) or via annual cash contribution.

To learn more about how to invest in EQUIAM funds with an Alto IRA, see the walkthrough here.

EQUIAM Fund III Specific FAQs

What is EQUIAM's edge in the market?

We believe our edge comes from our unique position in the market and our systematic, top-down approach. Our partnership with Forge allows for exceptional execution, and our data-sharing agreement allows for day-to-day monitoring of value across the private universe that was previously impossible. We combine this information with signals constructed using a propriety dataset on company revenue, headcount, valuation, and public market competitors, among other inputs, to create rigorously tested signals for predicting company performance. This systematic process removes a significant portion of the human element from our strategy, with cold calculation replacing rumor and sentiment. While this may mean we sell names a bit early, it limits our exposure to potential bubbles and blow-ups, meaning we will preserve client capital and can capture deals in a downturn.

Another important component of our edge is our ability to improve through time. We firmly believe that investment managers should come to work each day and assume that the rest of the market is working to erode their edge. By using a systematic process, however, we believe we can improve faster than the competition by compounding our understanding. Our improvements aren’t point-in-time or limited to one of our investor's brains—when we have an investment insight, it is systemized and added to our overall process and knowledge bank. This frees us to go tackle the next big investment question rather than continually wrestling with the same issues. Over time, the benefit of compounding (much like in investing) should increase the distance between us and our peers.

Source: EQUIAM

What makes EQUIAM different?

EQUIAM Funds are comprised of 30-40 individual investments providing increased diversification and a broader portfolio than a traditional VC firm. Funds are also much shorter than a typical private market investment with a 4 year (+1+1) structure.

EQUIAM’s GENIUS Model analyzes a universe of 120,000+ private companies and over 10M data points to short-list the investable universe.

Functionally, EQUIAM is able to deploy capital faster than peers, mitigate the standard J-Curve of private investing, and return capital back to investors starting at the end of the fund's second year.

Lastly, EQUIAM implements best-in-class portfolio management by actively monitoring portfolio health and secondary market dynamics. If a company’s prospects stall, EQUIAM will look to tactically exit in the private secondary market, mitigating downside risk and protecting principal.

What is EQUIAM’s investable universe?

EQUIAM Fund III invests in growth and late-stage venture-backed private companies. The baseline thresholds for investment consideration are as follows: the target company must have raised at least three (3) funding rounds, have a minimum post-money valuation of $250M, and rank within the top 30 of the GENIUS model.

What is EQUIAM's track record?

EQUIAM has two closed funds: the Private Tech30 Fund (EQUIAM Fund I) and Private Alpha Fund (EQUIAM Fund II). EQUIAM has a proven track record of delivering top-quartile returns.

EQUIAM Fund I has performed exceptionally well, currently grading out in the top 1% of all FY19 vintage VC funds on metrics of TVPI and DPI (as per Cambridge Associates benchmark data as of Q2 2021).

Meanwhile, over 75% of EQUIAM Fund II assets have been deployed and early performance data is highly encouraging with 90% of positions >6-months old showing material appreciation (as of Q3 2021).

For more detailed track record information, please send inquiries to ir@equiam.com

Will the fund hold public securities?

Yes, at times. Initially, all components will be private companies. However, if we choose to hold a position through IPO, we will be likely bound by the standard lock-up provision, hence for around ~180 days, we will be holding public securities. We will plan to fully liquidate the public position within 6 - 12 months following lock-up expiration.

Are there any liquidity provisions? Will I be able to exit the fund prior to the scheduled fund termination?

The fund is a closed-end fund with an established 4-year fund life (plus two potential 1-year extensions should market conditions dictate such a decision). Hence, we expect our investors to remain invested in the fund for the duration of that period. In comparison to the standard 8 to 10-year fund lives of most venture and PE funds, we feel our time frame is quite reasonable.

With that said, we are acutely aware of the importance of liquidity. As a result, we have structurally designed the fund to self-liquidate over the duration of the fund life.

During the first twenty-four (24) months following the final closing (planned for Q4 2020), the fund intends to reinvest all exit proceeds back into the fund. Following the expiration of the reinvestment period and for the remaining life of the fund, all exit proceeds will be delivered pro-rata to the investors in the fund, analogous to a dividend.

The primary ways a company will exit the fund will be via (1) IPO, (2) Acquisition, or (3) a systematically triggered exit via the private secondary market.

Lastly, we will allow for LPs to seek a sale of their stake via secondary brokerage platforms, such as Forge, but these sales are subject to normal market conditions and we cannot guarantee there will be willing buyers in the market.

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