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About

Future Private Report 2026

The future of investing may not be defined individually by the public or private market. It will be defined by investors’ ability to understand both.

Key Takeaways

  • The private market has cycled through four distinct regimes over the past ~7 years, culminating in today’s AI-led recovery.

  • Public and private market investments respond to stress in strikingly different ways.

  • The investable universe has expanded significantly; the number of unicorns has grown more than 4x since 2019.

  • The private market shares many of the same sector exposures as the public market, but with even heavier concentration in technology-related themes.

  • AI has become the defining investment theme across both the public and private market, but exposure looks different depending on where you sit.

INSIDE THE REPORT
  • Executive summary 2
  • Private market rides the AI valuation3
  • Stress can force public market trading, while the private market often slows down 4
  • Private market posts strong returns despite steeper draw5
  • Investable universe expands with unicorn count jumping 4x6
  • The private market leans harder into tech than public peers7
  • Enterprise software followed by industrial takes over the private market map8
  • The public and private market get AI exposure differently9
  • Exit recovery headlined by a select few10
Authors
Howe Ng
Chief Strategy Officer

Howe Ng is the Chief Strategy Officer at Forge Global. Prior to Forge, Howe held senior roles at BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors, including in their iShares ETF and Systematic Active Equity Portfolio Management divisions. He also served as Chief Operating Officer at Nipun Capital, an alternative asset management firm focusing on emerging markets and Asian strategies.

Andrew Alden
Vice President of Quantitative Research

Andrew Alden, CFA, serves as Vice President of Quantitative Research at Forge Global, where he leads a research team focused on the private market. Prior to this role, Andrew launched Semantiqa, an investment management firm, which focused on the public-market growth equities space.

Louis Metzger
Senior Data Analyst

Louis is a Senior Data Analyst at Forge Global, focusing on valuations and private market trends. Before joining Forge, Louis worked in corporate finance at Initiative Media and was a startup founder.

 

Legal Notices and Disclosures

Forge Global, Inc. (“Forge”) is an affiliate of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”), Member SIPC. Forge and Schwab are separate but wholly owned subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation.

©2026 Forge Global, Inc. and its affiliates. All rights reserved. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors, is highly speculative, is high risk, and you should be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are highly illiquid and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. Each investment carries its own risks, and you should conduct your own due diligence regarding the investment, including obtaining independent professional advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

This is not a recommendation, offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities by Forge Securities LLC (“Forge Securities”) or any of its affiliates, nor an offer of brokerage services in any jurisdiction where Forge Securities is not permitted to offer brokerage services. Registered representatives of Forge Securities do not (1) advise any party on the merits of a particular transaction; (2) assist in the determination of fair value of any security; or (3) provide legal, tax, or transactional advisory services. Securities and investments are offered only to customers of Forge Securities, a registered broker-dealer and member FINRA & SIPC. Securities referenced in this article may be offered by Forge Securities, and certain Forge affiliates may act as principals in such transactions. See Forge Global, Inc. and its affiliates’ Disclosure Library (Disclaimers & Disclosures and Form CRS) for additional disclosures.

Forge Price™ is calculated and disseminated by Forge Data LLC (“Forge Data”). All rights reserved. Forge Price™ is designed to reflect the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies. Forge Price™ is determined based on a proprietary model incorporating the pricing inputs from primary funding round information and secondary market transactions, including indications of interest (IOIs). Secondary market transactions are sourced from Forge Securities, a leading market platform, and data collected from other private market trading platforms. The Forge Price™ is a mark of Forge Data. The Forge Price™ is solely for informational purposes and is based upon information from sources believed to be reliable; however, Forge Data makes no assurance as to the accuracy or reliability of this data. Forge Data is not an investment adviser and makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any asset or asset class. Private company securities are highly illiquid, and the Forge Price™ may rely on a very limited number of trade and/or IOI inputs in its calculation. Brokerage products and services are offered by Forge Securities, a registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC.

Neither reference to company names, nor calculation of Forge Price™ for a particular company(ies), implies any affiliation between Forge or its affiliates and any company, any endorsement or sponsorship of Forge or its affiliates by any company or vice versa, or any partnership, joint venture or other commercial relationship between Forge or its affiliates and any company. Rights with respect to any company marks referred to herein are, as between Forge and its affiliates and such company, owned by the company.

The Forge Accuidity Private Market Index (“FAPMI”) is a custom index calculated and disseminated by Forge Data LLC (“Forge Data”) and is a mark of Forge Data. The FAPMI may rely on a very limited number of trade and/or IOI inputs in its calculation. The FAPMI is prepared and disseminated solely for informational purposes. While Forge has obtained information from sources it believes to be reliable, Forge does not perform an audit or undertake any duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. Forge does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or availability of the FAPMI, and is not responsible for any errors or omissions, regardless of the cause, or any results obtained from the use of the FAPMI.

The FAPMI is derived from the performance and pricing activity of the underlying constituents based on secondary activity on the Forge platform and other private market trading platforms. The FAPMI is not intended to, and does not necessarily, represent the market price of any securities (i.e., the price at which you could buy or sell such securities). Neither reference to company names, nor inclusion of companies in the FAPMI, implies any affiliation between Forge and that company, any endorsement or sponsorship by Forge of any company or vice versa, or any partnership, joint venture or other commercial relationship between Forge and any company. Rights with respect to any company marks referred to herein are owned by the company.

Any investment products managed by third parties that seek to track the FAPMI are not affiliated with Forge, and Forge is not responsible for the approval of any investments, the management of, or the investment decisions with respect to any such third-party products. Forge makes no assurance that any such third-party investment products based on or underlying the FAPMI will accurately track index performance or provide positive investment performance.