Caplight raises $16M Series A backed by BlackRock and UBS
What's the deal? Caplight, a San Francisco-based platform for private market secondary transactions, has raised $16 million in a Series A round.
BlackRock, Fin CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Leap Global PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → co-led the round. UBS Investment BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joined as a strategic investor.
Existing backers also upped their commitments, including DB1 VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Better Tomorrow VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Clocktower Ventures, and Dash FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The raise nearly triples Caplight's total funding. It had previously raised about $10 million.
Why now? Founded in 2021 by Justin Moore and Javier Avalos, Caplight sits at a busy junction in capital markets, where demand for private market liquidity is rising.
The company claims proprietary data on over $300 billion in secondary transactions and $4 trillion in funding rounds across more than 100,000 private companies.
Its client base collectively manages over $52 trillion in assets.
BlackRock's interest fits its strategy. It runs Aladdin, its portfolio management platform, and acquired private markets data provider Preqin.
Caplight's real-time pricing data — historically hard to source — could slot into that ecosystem. UBS follows similar logic, expanding private markets access for ultra-high-net-worth clients chasing pre-IPO exposure.
The signal: Caplight, still an early-stage company, has pulled in backers spanning asset management, banking, and a stock exchange's venture arm — BlackRock, UBS, and Deutsche Börse GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s DB1 Ventures — a sign that incumbents across the financial system want to own the pricing layer for private markets rather than cede it to a blockchain-native alternative.
Image credit: Ken Lund
