Founders Capital: 2025 Year-End Review

Hi all,

As we close out Founders Capital’s second full year, it is clear that both the business and the broader private markets are at an inflection point.

This has been a genuinely interesting market to operate in. While public markets have been choppy and liquidity has been constrained, innovation has continued at pace. Against that backdrop, we have backed a number of genuinely groundbreaking companies across both early and late stages, and importantly, begun to prove that our model works in practice, not just in theory.

Founders Capital exists to give investors more control over how they build their private market portfolios. We believe that has never been more important. Today’s environment demands diversification not just by sector, but by stage. The ability to balance early-stage upside with late-stage quality and potential liquidity was previously reserved for institutions. Our goal has been to make that approach accessible on a deal-by-deal basis.

Key Trends We Saw This Year

A few themes stood out very clearly in 2025:

First, AI moved from narrative to infrastructure. Across both early and late stages, we saw AI become foundational rather than experimental, with real revenue, real customers, and real defensibility emerging far earlier than in previous cycles. This was crystallised by record-breaking AI infrastructure partnerships, with leaders like OpenAI securing unprecedented long-term compute commitments.

Second, liquidity began to re-enter the private markets, primarily through secondaries. While still early, the increase in late-stage trading activity validated our belief that access to quality secondary opportunities would become a critical part of modern private market portfolios.

Third, we saw the continued rise of the operator-investor. More founders and senior operators are allocating capital themselves and are increasingly demanding transparency, speed, and control over where their money is deployed. This shift aligns directly with how Founders Capital is built.

Looking Ahead: Why 2026 Matters

One theme we are spending a lot of time on internally is the reopening of the IPO market. After several years of effective shutdown, 2026 is shaping up to be the year many of the most valuable private companies finally go public.

This is not speculative optimism. There is a clear backlog of IPO-ready businesses that have used the last three years to strengthen fundamentals, reach scale, and in many cases achieve profitability. At the same time, interest rates have stabilised, public market appetite for growth has returned, and investor demand for liquidity is building.

Several category-defining companies are widely expected to target listings in 2026, market conditions permitting. If this wave materialises, it has meaningful implications for private market investors. A functioning IPO market unlocks liquidity, resets benchmarks, and allows capital to recycle back into earlier stages.

This is precisely why we believe spreading private market exposure across early and late stages matters more than ever. Late-stage positions offer potential liquidity and downside protection, while early-stage investments continue to provide asymmetric upside.

Key Trends to Watch Next Year

Looking forward, three themes are worth paying close attention to.

First, the intersection of AI and regulation. As governments catch up, the winners will be companies that can scale while operating within increasingly defined regulatory frameworks.

Second, the return of the IPO window. Even a handful of successful listings could materially shift sentiment across private markets and accelerate exits more broadly.

Third, the evolution of investor tooling. Platforms that use data intelligently to help investors manage, allocate, and rebalance private portfolios will define the next generation of private market investing.

What to Look Out for from Founders Capital

As we move into the next phase of Founders Capital, our focus is on building the infrastructure that supports this new reality.

We are currently working on a mobile app to make engaging with deals and managing investments a far more seamless experience for members. The aim is simpler access, clearer visibility, and faster execution.

Alongside this, we are doubling down on data. As our deal history and portfolio grow, we are using that data to make better decisions across different deal types and, over time, to surface opportunities that are more personalised to each member’s preferences, whether by stage, sector, cheque size, or risk appetite.

Finally, liquidity remains a core priority. We are piloting a framework that will allow investors in select late-stage deals to access secondary liquidity. This is still early, but we believe it will become a defining feature of the platform. We will be sharing more detail on this over the coming months.

Everything we are building is in service of one goal: giving our members more control over how they build, manage, and ultimately realise value from their private market portfolios.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of Founders Capital this year. The next chapter will be our most ambitious yet.

Richard Hadler
Founder & General Partner

Founders Capital is the trading name of FC Group Holding Ltd. FC Group Holding Ltd is an Appointed Representative of 8point8 Capital Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 936586). 

This communication is being sent confidentially on a restricted basis for information and discussion purposes only. It does not constitute a financial promotion and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Membership of Founders Capital is restricted to recipients who are eligible to receive exempt financial promotions under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005.