NAO and ARK Invest open access to private companies

Berlin-based WealthTech NAO and ARK Invest Europe have entered into a strategic partnership to give European private investors access to high-growth, unlisted technology companies. The core of the cooperation is the ARK Private Innovation ELTIF, which can be invested in via NAO's platform from as little as EUR 1. This is available both as a one-off investment and as a savings plan.

Private growth investments accessible at a low threshold for the first time

The ARK Private Innovation ELTIF opens up a segment previously reserved for institutional investors to private investors. The fund focuses on mid to late growth companies that are still privately owned and not listed on the stock exchange. High minimum investments and regulatory hurdles had previously largely closed this market.

Focus on disruptive future technologies

The fund's investment strategy follows a thematic innovation approach. Investments are made in particular in companies in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, multi-omics and blockchain. ARK Invest contributes its many years of research expertise: In the USA, the company has been managing a venture fund with a similar focus and investments in companies such as OpenAI, SpaceX, Revolut, xAI, Epic Games and Anthropic since 2022.

ELTIF 2.0 structure with a direct investment approach

The fund is structured as an Irish ELTIF 2.0 and invests primarily directly in the target companies. This avoids additional fee levels through intermediary fund structures. The target allocation is around 80 percent private companies and 20 percent listed stocks.

As a semi-liquid evergreen structure, the fund offers quarterly redemption options of up to 5 percent of the net asset value, giving investors additional flexibility.

Democratization of institutional investment quality

Robin Binder, founder and CEO of NAO, emphasizes the platform's claim. For a long time, access to high-growth private companies was almost impossible for private investors. Thanks to the cooperation, NAO users now have access to professionally managed private innovation for as little as EUR 1.

Cathie Wood, founder, CEO and CIO of ARK Invest, also sees the partnership as a logical step: an increasingly large part of innovation-driven value creation is already taking place in private markets today, long before an IPO. The fund provides European investors with regulated access to these companies.

Strategic added value for both partners

For NAO, the cooperation adds another building block to its curated range of private and alternative investments. In return, ARK Invest Europe gains access to a digitally savvy European private investor base. Both companies see the partnership as an important step towards making private market investments more widely accessible in the long term.

Classification by the Startbase

This article does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell, but serves exclusively as journalistic reporting on a current market and corporate event. Investors should take an independent and critical look at the investment strategy before making an investment decision. This also includes a look at the past performance of comparable products from Cathie Wood and ARK Invest: The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) reached its peak in 2020 and 2021, but was unable to maintain this level over the long term. A direct comparison with the Nasdaq, which has risen by over 230% since 2020, shows that ARKK has clearly underperformed. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results, but it does underline the importance of careful, independent analysis.