Sacra estimates that Augment hit $10M in annual revenue run rate in October 2025, reaching profitability within 18 months of launch. The company has processed over $400M in total trade volume across 500+ completed transactions since its public beta launch in April 2024.

Augment monetizes through transaction fees on its marketplace and Alternative Trading System, capturing approximately 2.5% of gross transaction value through combined buyer and seller fees. The company also generates revenue from its Collective SPV program, which charges one-time administrative fees with no ongoing management fees or carry.

The revenue model scales directly with trading volume, and the company had year-to-date profitability while headcount increased from under 10 to 35 employees.

Augment raised a $12M Series A in October 2025 led by Builders VC, with participation from Neo, Golden Section, E1 Ventures, Corp Capital, and OPCO Ventures. As part of the round, serial founder Mike Rosengarten joined the board as Builders VC's representative.

The company previously raised approximately $4M in seed funding in August 2024, with investors including Neo, Golden Section Ventures, and angels Roger Dickey and Ali Partovi.

Total funding raised to date is approximately $16M across the seed and Series A rounds.

Augment operates as a FINRA-registered Alternative Trading System that enables accredited investors to buy and sell shares in over 300 late-stage private companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, and Stripe.

The platform combines two distinct products on a single trading infrastructure. The Marketplace functions as an order-book style secondary market where users can browse live bid-ask spreads, view recent transaction prices, and execute direct share purchases. The Collective program offers single-company SPVs that fractionalize larger share blocks, allowing investors to participate with minimums as low as $10,000.

Users create accounts by uploading KYC documents and verifying accredited investor status, typically completed within minutes. They can then browse available inventory, view real-time pricing data, and execute trades through pre-filled legal agreements that handle stock purchase documents, joinder agreements, and right of first refusal waivers.

The platform automates the entire settlement process, routing matched orders through compliance checks including AML and OFAC screening, obtaining issuer approvals, and orchestrating cap table transfers. Most transactions settle within 10 days compared to the typical 30-60 day industry standard.

For issuers, Augment provides a compliance console that allows companies to approve or deny participants, batch-sign transfer documents, and embed custom terms like volume caps or trading blackout periods. The system automatically handles right of first refusal notifications and Rule 144 restrictions.

Augment operates a B2B2C marketplace model, serving as both a technology platform and regulated trading venue for private company shares. The company holds dual registrations as a FINRA broker-dealer and Alternative Trading System, enabling it to facilitate transactions while maintaining regulatory compliance.

The core monetization mechanism captures a percentage of gross transaction value through combined buyer and seller fees, similar to other financial marketplaces. This creates a direct correlation between trading volume growth and revenue expansion, with minimal marginal costs for additional transactions.

The Collective SPV program represents a complementary revenue stream that charges upfront administrative fees without ongoing management fees or carried interest. This structure appeals to smaller investors while generating fee income on fractional ownership products.

The business model benefits from network effects as increased liquidity attracts more participants on both sides of the marketplace. Higher trading volumes lead to tighter bid-ask spreads and more frequent price discovery, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that improves the user experience and drives retention.

Augment maintains an asset-light operational structure by leveraging technology to automate compliance, settlement, and administrative processes that traditionally require significant manual intervention. This approach enables the company to scale transaction volume without proportional increases in operational costs.

Charles Schwab is acquiring Forge Global for $660M to integrate private share trading into its 46 million retail brokerage accounts. Forge has processed over $17B in lifetime trading volume and will benefit from Schwab's zero-commission brokerage model and extensive distribution network.

Morgan Stanley is acquiring EquityZen, which serves 800,000 users across 49,000 deals, to fold secondary trading into its $6T wealth management platform. This integration provides access to employee equity programs through Morgan Stanley at Work and deep balance sheet capital for tender offer programs.

Nasdaq Private Market operates as both a multi-sided ATS and settlement technology provider, having processed $55B in aggregate volume across 760+ company programs. The platform focuses on issuer-sponsored programs and has launched a Liquidity Provider Program with institutional partners.

NPM's strategy emphasizes data infrastructure through its Tape D API and bank partnerships, positioning itself as the rails for private market trading rather than competing directly for retail flow.

Hiive demonstrates retail demand with over $110M in monthly volume using consumer-friendly interfaces and real-time price feeds. The platform validates market appetite for lower minimum investments and transparent pricing in private shares.

Persana AI and other Y Combinator-backed startups are building competitive platforms that combine marketplace functionality with AI-powered deal sourcing and automated compliance workflows.

Augment can monetize its real-time pricing data through paid APIs targeting hedge funds, RIAs, and institutional investors. The private markets data segment represents an $18B opportunity as asset managers seek better price discovery and portfolio valuation tools.

The company can expand its Collective SPV model into thematic investment products, creating baskets around sectors like frontier AI or climate technology. This approach would increase take rates through fund-level administration fees while recycling existing marketplace inventory.

Derivative products including total return swaps and share-backed lending represent natural extensions once consistent price series exist. These higher-margin products would differentiate Augment from competitors focused purely on spot trading.

The wealth management channel offers significant growth potential as RIAs seek private share access for their clients. White-label solutions or model portfolio feeds could expand Augment's reach beyond its current 5,000 registered users.

Employee liquidity programs represent a higher-value market segment where companies sponsor trading windows for their workforce. These programs generate 10-20x larger ticket sizes compared to individual seller transactions and create recurring revenue relationships with issuers.

Retail investor demand continues growing as platforms demonstrate appetite for private market exposure. Augment's $10,000 minimums and no-carry structure position it well for this demographic expansion.

International markets present expansion opportunities as private companies globally seek liquidity solutions. European and Asian markets are developing regulatory frameworks that could accommodate Augment's ATS model with appropriate licensing.

Regulatory changes enabling broader retail participation in private markets could dramatically expand the addressable customer base. Augment's existing compliance infrastructure positions it to capitalize on any liberalization of accredited investor requirements.

Regulatory constraints: Private market trading faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny regarding investor protection and market manipulation. Changes to ATS regulations or accredited investor definitions could limit Augment's ability to serve its current customer base or expand into new segments.

Issuer cooperation: The business model depends on private companies allowing secondary trading of their shares and providing necessary approvals for transactions. If major issuers restrict secondary trading or impose more restrictive approval processes, it could reduce available inventory and transaction volumes.

Market concentration: Augment's revenue depends on trading activity in a small number of high-profile private companies. A broader market downturn affecting private company valuations or a shift toward earlier public offerings could reduce both trading volumes and the total addressable market for secondary transactions.