Equitybee: Platform Profile

Equitybee provides accredited investors access to private-company economics by funding employee stock-option exercises.

That is materially different from buying shares directly from an employee on a secondary marketplace.

Equitybee explicitly states:

• it is not a crowdfunding platform;
• it is not a secondary trading platform;
• it does not facilitate direct purchases of startup shares from employees.

The core single-company product uses a contractual/private-placement structure tied to an employee's option exercise.

The investor supplies capital.

The employee uses the capital to exercise stock options.

The investor receives contractual economic rights tied to the covered shares and a future liquidity event.

The investor does not become the direct owner of the startup shares merely by funding the transaction.

May fit better for

• accredited investors seeking exposure to private-company outcomes;
• investors comfortable with contractual rather than direct share ownership;
• investors seeking individual-company opportunities;
• investors willing to wait for an uncertain liquidity event;
• investors able to evaluate employee counterparty and startup risk;
• investors who understand private placements and illiquidity.

May fit less well for

• non-accredited investors;
• investors wanting to own private-company shares directly;
• investors seeking a live secondary order book;
• investors requiring daily liquidity;
• investors with less than the $10,000 single-offer minimum;
• investors uncomfortable with multi-party contractual structures;
• investors who want simple stock-style return mechanics.

Equitybee Securities

EquityBee Securities, LLC is the broker-dealer affiliate.

It is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member, CRD 41896, SEC number 8-49621.

Equitybee's current Form CRS states that EquityBee Securities offers a narrow selection consisting of:

• fund interests;
• PFCs/private financing contracts.

It does not provide discretionary portfolio management.

It does not monitor investor accounts as an investment adviser would.

Not direct private-stock ownership

This is the most important structural distinction in the review.

Equitybee's own materials state that PFCs do not grant or transfer ownership of startup-company stock to the investor.

Stated precisely: Equitybee lets accredited investors fund employee stock-option exercises through private-placement structures that give investors contractual economic exposure to the covered shares.

Who can invest

Equitybee's current FAQ states that U.S. investor eligibility is limited to accredited investors only.

Investor accreditation must be confirmed during onboarding.

Minimum investment

Equitybee's current FAQ states a single-offer minimum of $10,000 USD.

That is the minimum accepted per offer, and it does not apply to every pooled or institutional Equitybee product.

Equitybee also offers fund structures with materially higher commitments.

For example, its current Venture Portfolio Fund materials list a $100,000 minimum commitment.

The Reserved Fund is positioned for substantially larger customized deployment.

Product-specific minimums are tracked separately.

Single-company deals

The single-company product lets an accredited investor choose a startup opportunity and fund an employee's option exercise.

Current process:

1. investor registers;
2. investor completes profile/accreditation information;
3. investor reviews available opportunities;
4. investor selects an offer and amount;
5. Equitybee verifies accreditation;
6. investor signs the applicable investment/funding documents;
7. investor wires funds;
8. employee exercises options;
9. the contractual structure remains outstanding until a qualifying liquidity event or other outcome.

The investment is speculative and can result in complete loss.

Investor fee — single-company offers

Current first-party disclosures state an initial investor fee of 5% of the initial investment.

Equitybee's FAQ also states that following a successful liquidity event the investor may pay 5% of the remainder in excess of the original investment amount.

The current Form CRS says affiliated funds managed by an affiliated investment adviser can impose additional fees on investment gains.

Equitybee's products do not share one universal fee model. For single-company funding transactions, the 5% initial fee is distinct from any later carry or fund-level charges.

Economic return structure

The return mechanics are not ordinary common-stock ownership.

Equitybee's current performance materials explain that realized proceeds can generally include:

• return of original principal;
• accrued annual interest, commonly stated in current company materials as 3%–5%;
• an investor share of the equity value at liquidity, commonly 20%–45% of the funded shares under the referenced model;
• less applicable carry and fees.

These are not guaranteed returns.

They are contract economics.

In particular:

• terms are offer-specific;
• payment depends on the contractual outcome;
• a liquidity event may never occur;
• the investment can lose all capital.

Employee counterparty risk

The investment depends on more than the startup.

It also depends on the employee who exercised the options and entered the contract.

Equitybee states that it performs:

• background checks;
• credit checks;
• option-grant verification;
• ongoing communication with funded employees.

The contracts can contain protections such as:

• liquidation preference;
• restrictions on sale;
• spousal consent;
• power of attorney.

Those controls reduce some operational/counterparty risk.

They do not eliminate:

• employee default risk;
• startup failure;
• valuation decline;
• dilution;
• legal disputes;
• illiquidity.

Liquidity event drives settlement

Equitybee investments are generally designed around an eventual event such as:

• IPO;
• acquisition;
• merger;
• tender offer;
• qualifying secondary transaction;
• other contractual liquidity event.

There is no public market for the PFC.

An investor should not assume the position can be sold on demand.

Company-reported performance data

Equitybee publishes extensive historical performance data.

Current company-reported data as of June 2026 states:

• startups accessed: 900+;
• liquidity events: 314;
• companies with liquidity events: 234;
• total transaction volume: $345M+;
• median discount: 70%;
• average months to liquidity for realized investments: 29.4.

These figures are company-reported historical platform data. They are not expected returns, model portfolio performance, a promise of future liquidity, or a rating.

Equitybee itself states that past performance is not indicative of future results.

Reserved Fund

Equitybee also markets an Equitybee Reserved Fund structure.

Its purpose is different from picking one available employee option transaction.

The investor can define a strategy using criteria such as:

• companies;
• industries;
• venture-capital investors;
• minimum valuation criteria.

The fund can deploy capital when matching opportunities become available.

Current marketing positions this for large deployments, including investors or groups aiming to deploy approximately $5 million or more per fund. It is not the default product for a $10,000 investor.

Venture Portfolio Fund

Equitybee also offers a diversified Venture Portfolio Fund.

Current first-party terms state:

• target company count: 120+;
• target fund life: 5 years;
• investment period: approximately 12–18 months;
• annual management fee: 0;
• brokerage fee: 5% when capital is deployed to each underlying investment;
• carried interest: 10% at fund level;
• minimum commitment: $100,000.

This is a materially different product from single-company PFC investing, and its fees are separate.

SIPC and private-placement risk

EquityBee Securities is a FINRA-member broker-dealer.

That does not make the private placement economically insured.

SIPC does not protect an investor against:

• startup failure;
• contractual default;
• valuation losses;
• inability to obtain liquidity;
• poor investment performance.

Assessment

Equitybee solves a different access problem from Hiive or EquityZen.

The investor is not primarily looking for an employee willing to sell shares.

The investor is supplying the capital an employee needs to exercise options.

That creates a distinct economic relationship.

The possible advantage is access to a private-company outcome using an employee's older option economics.

The tradeoff is structural complexity.

The investor must understand:

• the employee remains central to the transaction;
• the investor generally does not own the startup shares directly;
• liquidity depends on a future event;
• return terms are contractual;
• fees apply before and potentially after the liquidity event.

Equitybee is best analyzed as a private-placement financing platform tied to employee equity—not as a stock exchange.