Investing in Acorns Stock | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares (2025)

Acorns operates as a digital financial service provider. The network combines various features to enable anyone to save and invest funds using a smartphone app. The app’s simplistic and easy-to-use design, coupled with its automated saving and investment features, has made Acorns a leading provider of automated financial services. As such, there is a strong demand for pre-IPO Acorns shares.

In May 2021, Acorns announced plans to take the company public after merging with Pioneer Merger Corp. The merger boosted Acorns’ valuation to $2.2B and increased interest in the firm’s offerings. An Acorns IPO would see massive participation from investors eager to get in on the company’s success. However, no exact date has been given, further driving demand for access to pre-IPO shares. Here’s the best ways to gain access to pre-IPO shares of Acorns

What are Acorns?

Acorns is a digital savings and investment ecosystem that combines the convenience and accessibility of an app with the experience of investment specialists. The protocol was founded in 2012 by Walter Cruttenden, Jeffrey Cruttenden, and Mark Dru to simplify investment for the masses.

Acorns enable anyone to gain access to professionally chosen investments and participate in the markets without having to take extra steps. Acorns provides users with access to a variety of financial tools including checking accounts, retirement accounts, and other banking features.

Source – Acorns

The main offering of the platform is its automated investment strategies. This feature works by rounding up all purchases made to the next dollar. The extra funding is then extracted and automatically reinvested into one of 5 preset portfolio options.

Notably,  Acorn’s proprietary brokerage and advisory engine enables users to select from various index funds depending on their risk appetite. This method of spare change investing is preferred by many as it is not felt and can add up over time.

As such, Acorns is a great way for you to start a retirement savings account with minimal effort. The protocol provides access to popular tax-benefited IRAs as part of this approach, further improving access to investment tools designed to benefit long-term investors.

Historical Funding Rounds

Summary of Acorns Funding:

• Total Funding: Acorns secured $588M across 11 funding rounds.
• Largest Round: Acorns’ largest funding round secured $300M on Mar 09, 2022.
• Investors: A total of 56 institutional investors and 1 Angel investor back Acorns.
• Latest Round: The latest funding round secured $300M and was a Series F round held on March 09, 2022.

Funding Rounds Breakdown:

• 2 seed
• 2 early stage
• 7 late-stage

Key Investors:

Acorns’ key investors include TPG, Blackrock,  Bain Capital Ventures, Galaxy, The Rise Fund, 35V, Torch Capital, Greycroft, Owl Rock Capital, Senator Investment Group, Comcast Ventures, NBC Universal, MSD Capital, Bain Capital, Capital Group, PayPal and Alex Rodriguez.

Funding Data is Sourced from Tracxn

Why Invest in Acorns?

There are several reasons why Acorns could be a good addition to your portfolio if the company goes public. For one, it’s currently the largest subscription-based consumer finance app in the US. It services +6.8M active users who leverage the app to improve their retirement strategy. Here are a few other reasons why investors would seek out pre-IPO shares in Acorns.

Easy-to-Use: The Acorns application has seen multiple upgrades which has helped it to become one of the easiest savings and investment options available. The protocol features an easy-to-navigate interface that provides direct access to the network’s helpful features at a glance.

Unique Features: Acorns provides users with a plethora of unique features and services that make it stand out against the competition. For example, automatic saving and investment options are one of the easiest ways for new investors to build a healthy portfolio based on expert advice. Additionally, Acorns offers cash back, high security, and a host of other features that helped it become the top-performing app in the sector.

Strong Positioning: Another reason why you should consider investing in pre-IPO shares of Acorns is that it is the top-performing subscription-based financial app in the US. The platform is ranked 1 among the competition and has secured a strong use base over its 12 years of operations.

Major Backers: Savvy investors will also take note of the high number of experienced backers who have taken part in Acorns’ previous funding rounds. The platform has support from some of the most notable names in finance. Additionally, it continues to garner more high-level backers via subsequent funding rounds.

IPO Speculation: Demand for Acorns shares is through the roof. The company is a proven financial tool that supports millions of users and has strategic partnerships with various market leaders. Consequently, any prospect of an approaching IPO could drive share values higher, increasing pre-IPO share ROIs significantly before the event.

How to Buy Acorns Pre-IPO Shares

Acorns may have called off its first IPO, but hopes are high that the company will return to this strategy in the coming months. As such, Acorns remains a privately held company, meaning that you will need to utilize a specialized approach to get access to shares. Here is what you need to consider.

1. Pre-IPO Secondary Marketplace

Investors sometimes gain exposure to private companies through secondary marketplaces, which connect accredited investors with early shareholders—such as employees, venture firms, or insiders—looking to sell shares before a company’s IPO.

Pre-IPO investments offer the chance to invest during a company’s high-growth phase, often at lower valuations than in the public markets. However, these opportunities come with important considerations:

• Eligibility: Secondary markets typically require you to be an accredited investor, meaning you must meet certain income or net worth thresholds.

• Liquidity Risk: Private shares are usually illiquid until the company goes public or is acquired, meaning you may need to hold them for several years—or potentially indefinitely.

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.

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 Acorns. 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. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Regulatory Risk

The blockchain market has seen considerable scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers. While the technology is far better understood than in its early days, there are still many lawmakers who see it as a threat to the traditional financial system. As such, you need always to consider how new regulations could affect the value of your pre-IPO shares.

Market Risk

Purchasing pre-IPO shares in Acorns means that you stand behind the project and its team.  The company has secured a reputation for excellence and has previously expressed a desire to go public. However, no concrete data has been provided yet. As such, it’s vital to understand that the blockchain market is an active space that experiences strong fluctuations that could result in a different share value between now and any future IPO launch.

Valuation of Acorns and Future IPO

Acorns is a unicorn that’s currently valued at $1.9B. The company managed to secure this valuation via a combination of a growing customer base, prioritizing partnerships, and expanding its user investment options. These maneuvers helped millions of investors start their retirement and savings plans.

There is a lot of speculation regarding Acorns’ planned IPO. The company already told investors in 2021 that it intended to go public and since that time, demand for its services has increased dramatically. Today, it’s the top-performing subscription-based fintech app in the US and according to analysts, it has the momentum to continue its reign at the top.

When Acorns officially announces its IPO date, it’s likely to cause a rush of interest as the platform holds a dominant market position. Additionally, it’s a reliable and secure investment provider that has years of experience catering offerings to new investors. As such, investors are eager to participate in this event, leading many to speculate that it could be one of the largest IPOs in recent times.

Conclusion

Pre-IPO Acorns shares could provide a unique opportunity to participate in this revolutionary investment app’s rise. Acorns’ user base has soared alongside the growth of the e-commerce and digital economies. Of course, there are certain risks that you should consider before making your final decision. For now, Acorns is the primary way millions of new investors participate in the markets.

Anyone considering investing in pre-IPO shares must do their own research. Consulting a financial expert will improve your understanding of key details of any investment, including risk exposure and ROI potential. For those who find Acorns Pre-IPO shares meet their requirements, there’s an exciting opportunity awaiting.

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.