Investing in BigID | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares

BigID operates as a cloud-based, AI-powered data security and management software provider. The firm delivers comprehensive risk management, data analysis, and automation solutions through its software-as-a-service model. Since its launch, the company has experienced significant growth, fueled by its proprietary AI systems and the overall expansion of the security sector.

These factors have made BigID shares highly sought after. However, the company remains privately owned and has not announced any IPO plans to date. As a result, investors must turn to secondary markets to access shares before they become available to the public. Here’s what you need to know.

What is BigID?

New York-based BigID was founded in February 2016 to advance business data intelligence. Founders Dimitri Sirota and Nimrod Vax set out to create a platform that takes a ground-up approach to data security.

Their goal was to build a management system that implemented security protocols at the data level rather than the server level. This strategy helped redefine data lifecycle management and intelligence operations, delivering improved awareness and root cause understanding. Their unique approach enables businesses to automate privacy management, security, and governance while gaining deeper insight into crucial details and patterns.

All-in-One Data Management

Today, BigID operates as an all-in-one data management solution that supports integration across all data environments. The platform connects data from AI systems, cloud networks, on-premises devices, and traditional business systems. This approach makes it easy for businesses to find, understand, manage, protect, and adjust their strategies with a full understanding of the risks and rewards of each action.

Proprietary AI

At the core of BigID is its AI technology. The company has developed and patented several AI and machine learning systems. These protocols include smart pattern matching that enhances the ability to manage consent, process requests, and conduct privacy assessments. Together, these capabilities make BigID a powerful tool for discovering, classifying, and managing critical personal data efficiently.

Advanced Data Maps

The AI systems provide crucial insights that make it easy to integrate automated discovery, tracking, and security protocols. These data maps allow clients to see the real-time effects of changes to their business models and campaigns. They can track data movement across a wide range of legacy and next-generation systems.

BigID Supports End-to-End Automation

Automation is one of the key features that sets BigID apart from the competition. The system can automate crucial tasks such as discovering, classifying, and mapping sensitive data. It can also manage requests for this information, ensuring it is never shared with unauthorized personnel. BigID AI can automatically redact private data, revoke access, delete incorrect data, and remove unreliable resources.

Businesses can automate the classification of personally identifiable information (PII) while managing data-driven initiatives to see real-time results. Automation reduces the costs and workload associated with privacy compliance, including GDPR, CCPA, data subject rights requests, and risk posture management, all of which can be fully automated with BigID features.

BigID Next

BigID Next is the company’s latest offering, designed to streamline the creation and management of AI data and protocols. The platform includes tools to govern AI algorithms, reduce security risks, and gain valuable insights into timely data.

Historical Funding Rounds

Summary of BigID Funding:

Total Funding: BigID secured $308M across 9 funding rounds

Largest Round: BigID’s largest funding round secured $70M on December 16, 2020.

Investors: A total of 28 institutional investors back BigID

Latest Round: The latest funding round raised $61.4M and was a Series D round held on February 08,  2024.

Funding Rounds Breakdown:

• 1 Seed
• 2 Early-Stage
• 6 Late-Stage

Key Investors:

BigID secured investment capital from Genacast Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Deep Fork Capital, Comcast Ventures, SAP.iO, ClearSky,  Information Venture Partners,  Scale Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Advent International, ServiceNow, Splunk, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Riverwood Capital, and more.

Why Invest in BigID?

There are many reasons why an investor would seek out BigID Pre-IPO shares. For one, the company is an industry leader in a fast-growing market. The data security and management sector is projected to hit $213B by the end of this year. The same data shows that data security spending is on track to reach $424.97 billion in value by 2030.

Demand Security Solutions on the State Level

The nature of warfare continues to change, and recent conflicts continue to highlight the vulnerabilities that countries have in regards to cybersecurity. Consequently, demand for data and cybersecurity services has steadily grown at the state level. This demand can be seen by the growing list of BigID clientele.

Innovator

The innovative nature of BigID is another key factor to consider. The company has consistently pushed the boundaries of AI data management and business task automation. The network’s current offerings can connect data from across the cloud, SaaS, unstructured, pipelines, and AI protocols in a seamless manner. Additionally, the company was the first to offer identity-aware discovery to enterprise clientele.

BigID Offers Flexible Products

BigID’s products provide a high level of customization, enabling them to work without the need to create new code. The company offers management at scale over databases, file systems, cloud storage options, and traditional business applications.

Automated Risk Reduction

One of the biggest draws to BigID is its automated risk reduction systems. These features provide direct insight into the information needed to create effective context-aware policies. They enable businesses to locate and identify sensitive data and they can extend to cover third-party applications, adding to their effectiveness.

Regulatory Compliance is Vital to BigID

Regulatory compliance is at the core of BigID’s product design.  The company has taken all steps necessary to ensure that its privacy and data management protocols meet or exceed GDPR, CPRA, HIPAA, and AI regulations. Additionally.

BigID consistently updates its privacy regulations to remain compliant. These actions now include regularly auditing for privacy law compliance, third-party sharing security, and an agreement to report any data breaches immediately.

Funding and Investor data sourced from Tracxn

1. Pre-IPO Secondary Marketplace

Secondary markets are purpose-built exchanges that connect pre-IPO shareholders with potential investors. These marketplaces can offer these assets because they work closely with employees, early-stage investors, and venture capitalists, who are crucial to the company’s pre-IPO growth.

Investing in pre-IPO shares of BigID could offer strong returns if the company’s valuation increases following its IPO. It’s common for company valuations to increase following an IPO. As such, it makes sense to add pre-IPO shares to your portfolio before the firm announces plans to go public.

Secondary marketplaces have many requirements. Here are some concerns you should be made aware of:

Eligibility: This approach requires you to be an accredited investor, meaning you will have to show at least $1M in liquid assets to qualify for access.

2. Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms gain access to pre-IPO shares during investment rounds. They then offer these shares to high-net-worth accredited investors with a commission. Notably, private equity firms are known to have extra stipulations, including blocking the sale of shares for years in some cases.

3. Employee Equity Sales

Many consider employee equity sales as the best way to acquire pre-IPO shares in BigID. This method of acquiring pre-IPO shares requires you to connect with former employees. It’s common for companies to issue shares as part of an incentive package. Notably, this profit-sharing method has become more popular, leading to more pre-IPO share opportunities for investors.

Private Transactions: There are a lot of hoops you will need to jump through to complete a private pre-IPO transaction, including creating specific legal agreements, conducting valuations, and setting in place any limitations on the transfer of the asset.

Brokerage: Brokers will take a lot of the confusion out of the pre-IPO process. These professionals can guide you through each step, ensuring full compliance and avoiding common errors untrained professionals make.

There are several risks that you should consider before jumping into the pre-IPO shares investment arena. Here are the top concerns:

Liquidity Risk

If you are looking for an asset that you can sell right away, pre-IPO shares are not the best option.

These investments can include sales and transfer clauses that prevent the transfer of the asset until certain criteria, such as the IPO’s completion, are met. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Finding a Broker

If you meet the requirements and are comfortable with the risks, several platforms offer access to pre-IPO opportunities:

Forge Global: One of the largest private stock marketplaces, offering shares in late-stage startups like SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks. Minimums typically start around $100,000.

EquityZen: A popular platform allowing accredited investors to buy into private companies with minimums as low as $5,000. Past offerings include companies like Discord and UiPath.

Rainmaker Securities: A full-service broker that helps source and negotiate private share sales, including opportunities in companies like OpenAI, Stripe, and Palantir.

Hiive: A newer platform with live bid/ask pricing for hundreds of private companies. Transparent and low-fee, with minimums starting around $25,000.

MicroVentures: Offers pooled access to late-stage companies through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), including past investments in SpaceX and Instacart.

EquityBee: Allows investors to fund employee stock option exercises at startups, often at discounted valuations, with minimums around $10,000.

Augment: A digital-first marketplace showing real-time pricing for pre-IPO shares, targeting tech-savvy investors and offering lower transaction fees.

StartEngine Private: Launched in late 2023, this platform offers accredited investors access to Regulation D offerings in later-stage, venture-backed companies. In its first nine months, it generated $16.5 million in revenue, with average investments around $32,000

Important: Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor before investing in private company shares.

Valuation of BigID and Future IPO

BigID reached Unicorn status after securing a valuation of $1.25B on Apr 22, 2021. The company was able to secure this value due to a combination of investor support, smart business practices, and market positioning. Today, investor confidence in BigID is at an all-time high.

If the company can remain a crucial component in the AI data management sector via its innovative offerings, it will remain positioned for exponential growth. The AI data management sector is one of the fastest tech industries, playing a vital role in keeping the world’s largest and most successful firms operating smoothly. Those holding BigID shares seek to capitalize on these factors to secure future gains.

Investing in BigID Pre-IPO shares: Conclusion

Investing in BigID creates lots of future opportunities for those who can qualify for pre-IPO shares. The company remains a critical component of many operations, adding to its overall longevity. If it can remain innovative, it’s sure to set the pace for future AI integrations.

It’s always recommended that you consult a financial expert before you make any pre-IPO investments. Pre-IPO shares differ from traditional stocks in that they can have added restrictions, such as no sale dates. These factors can increase the risks.

Additionally, there’s no guarantee that BigID will go public or that its share price will increase if it does host an IPO. If you examine these factors and find that they meet your risk appetite and can qualify for access, BigID pre-IPO shares could provide some healthy rewards in the future.

Learn about Other Pre-IPO Opportunities Now

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Pre-IPO shares are typically available only to accredited investors and carry significant risk. Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor or legal expert before making investment decisions.