Ondo Finance Launches Tokenized Private Market Notes for Pre-IPO AI Companies

Ondo Finance is launching Ondo Private Markets to bring tokenized exposure of pre-IPO companies to the blockchain, starting with a prominent AI firm this week. By enabling 24/7 permissionless trading of private equity notes, the move addresses the liquidity gap and high entry barriers that have historically kept retail investors away from high-growth, late-stage private companies.

What was announced

The launch of Ondo Private Markets introduces tokenized notes that mirror the economic performance of private companies. The first offering, debuting this week, focuses on a pre-IPO AI company, with subsequent expansions planned into robotics, cybersecurity, biotech, and infrastructure. These tokens are designed to provide exposure to the 87% of US companies with over $100 million in annual revenue that remain privately held, a segment typically reserved for institutional investors and venture capitalists.

The mechanism involves tokenized notes where the payout is directly linked to the per-share value realized on the referenced company’s common shares during a qualifying liquidity event, such as an IPO or acquisition. Unlike traditional private equity investments, which often require years of lock-up periods, these tokens are freely transferable and composable onchain. This allows eligible investors to enter or exit positions at any time via secondary markets that operate 24/7.

The platform utilizes the same institutional-grade infrastructure that supports Ondo’s existing tokenized stock and Treasury products. These established platforms currently manage approximately $3.7 billion in total value locked (TVL) and serve over 1 million cumulative holders. By bringing these assets to permissionless blockchain rails, the initiative aims to turn private company exposure into productive capital that can be deployed across the wider decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

"In the US, the majority of the investment options accessible for retail are public companies, yet 87% of companies with over $100m in revenue are private. That's where many of the leaders defining the next era of our economy are emerging, and retail investors can't access them today. Ondo Private Markets is built to change that, bringing tokenized exposure to the world's best companies with 24/7 trading on permissionless rails."

Ian De Bode, Acting CEO and President, at Ondo Finance.

The companies involved

Ondo Finance is a prominent player in the Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization space, focused on making institutional-grade financial products accessible through blockchain technology. Led by President Ian De Bode, the firm has established itself as a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized protocols. The company’s core focus has historically been on tokenizing highly liquid assets, such as US Treasuries and public equities, providing a conduit for onchain capital to access low-risk, yield-bearing instruments.

The firm operates within a rapidly maturing market where the distinction between "crypto-native" and "traditional" finance is increasingly blurred. By leveraging permissionless rails for regulated financial products, Ondo has positioned itself as a key infrastructure provider for the next generation of capital markets. Its recent initiatives have focused on increasing the utility of tokenized assets, ensuring they are not just static representations of value but are also composable within the DeFi landscape. This latest move into private markets represents a significant expansion of its product suite, moving beyond public market instruments into the more opaque and illiquid world of private equity.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed Ondo Finance’s expansion into institutional partnerships and cross-chain integrations. In September 2026, the company collaborated with near.com and Ondo Finance Launch Confidential Tokenized Stock Trading on NEAR Protocol, highlighting its commitment to privacy-preserving trading environments. This followed the significant announcement that Ondo Finance and BlackRock Launch Tokenized Intelligent Portfolios for Onchain Investors, a move that brought BlackRock’s portfolio strategies to the blockchain. Furthermore, the firm achieved a major milestone in traditional finance integration when Ondo Finance and DTCC Bridge TradFi and DeFi via First Tokenized Fund Integration on Fund/SERV was announced, marking the first time a tokenization member was added to the DTCC’s Fund/SERV platform. The company’s market influence was also noted during the Unchained Summit India, where the convergence of capital markets and Web3 was a central theme.

What this means

This move signals a shift in the RWA sector from tokenizing "safe" yield, such as Treasuries, to "growth" assets like private equity. By targeting the liquidity premium of pre-IPO companies, Ondo is challenging the traditional venture capital model that relies on long-term capital lock-ups. The success of this initiative will likely depend on the depth of the secondary markets; if liquidity remains thin, the 24/7 trading benefit becomes purely theoretical. However, for the broader fintech industry, this places significant pressure on traditional brokerage firms and private equity funds to justify their high fees and restrictive access as blockchain-based alternatives begin to offer comparable exposure with superior flexibility.