Retail facing asset managers investing in unicorns, and crowdfunders may follow
Technology companies are choosing to go public later, and attracting investment from traditional asset managers such as Blackrock and Fidelity, at around the same valuation level where companies have typically gone public in the past. The Information recently posted details of investments in Uber by larger mutual funds. This trend coincides with equity crowdfunding opening up to retail investors, which the linked Finance Magnates article suggests, could be influenced by the performance of private shares within mutual fund portfolios.
Uber broke boundaries when it took investments from Fidelity and BlackRock last year. Suddenly, mutual funds widely held by 401(k)s were plunging into private tech.

But institutional investing in Uber is more widespread than previously understood.

Scores of mutual funds now own shares in the ridesharing company, according to regulatory filings that detail just how much money they’ve invested in Uber and many other private tech companies.