$VCX – The Private Tech Play the World is Sleeping On

VCX goes live tomorrow, March 19. Mark this day so you can tell your grandkids why they are eating real deal Fruit Loops instead of Aldi cardboard bulk flakes.

What Is VCX?

VCX is the ticker for Fundrise's Innovation Fund that goes live tomorrow. It's a closed-end fund that owns equity stakes in the most coveted private tech companies in the known universe: OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, Databricks, Anduril, and Ramp. Together those six names make up roughly 65% of the portfolio, with Canva, Vanta, and a handful of others rounding it out. These are companies that normally only show up in Sequoia's cap table, not your brokerage account. Fundrise is changing that.

The fund launched in July 2022 as a private, SEC-registered vehicle available to anyone — minimum investment of $10. It has since grown to $679 million AUM with around 100,000 investors.

The Track Record

The fund returned 43.5% net in 2025 alone and has compounded at roughly 15% annualized since inception — while dragging around a 25% cash and bond allocation the whole time to provide liquidity. That liquidity buffer existed to handle quarterly redemption requests from private investors. Once the fund lists on the NYSE, it doesn't need it anymore as liquidity comes from the market itself. That means the full portfolio gets deployed into the high-conviction VC positions. If you think private tech and AI companies will likely to continue to have outsized returns, keep reading.

The Fees

Flat 1.85% annual management fee. No performance fee. No carried interest. Traditional VC funds charge 2% per year plus 20% of your upside. Fundrise wanted to increase the management fee to 2.5% but the greedy private shareholders said no — but the VCX listing is going forward anyway. For access to Anduril, Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and SpaceX in a single ticker, 1.85% with no carry is a fair deal. You won't get access to this basket at this price anywhere else. 

The Premium/Discount to NAV Question

This is the most important thing to understand about closed-end funds: unlike ETFs, there's no mechanism that keeps the share price tied to the actual portfolio value. It trades wherever supply and demand take it.

The bearish case is funds like Pershing Square Holdings, which has traded at discounts of 9-40% to NAV for most of its life. The bullish case is DXYZ (Destiny Tech100) which holds a similar basket of private tech names and has at times traded at premiums exceeding 1,000% to NAV. As of today it still trades around 32% above NAV. Why? Scarcity. You will have difficulty buying this basket of shares anywhere else — which could cause the price to spike dramatically. 

VCX holds a better-diversified portfolio than DXYZ, charges lower fees, and has a solid track record as the Innovation Fund dating back to 2022. A 20-50% premium to NAV in a continued AI bull market feels like a reasonable base case. The upside scenario, say if Databricks or Anthropic IPOs while VCX still holds shares, would be enough to buy your Gramma a sweet PT Cruiser.

Risks (Don't be an idiot)

Private valuations are estimates, not real-time prices. If AI sentiment turns, those marks could come down hard.  And if the macro environment tanks in the first half of 2026, VCX could trade at a discount to NAV. That's actually a buying opportunity if you believe in the underlying portfolio, but it would sting short-term. Fundrise management has commented that if VCX were to trade at a significant discount to NAV, they would see it as a buying opportunity themselves, which would push the NAV back up. There is some general thinking that the current AI build-out has gone overboard…but Anduril is in talks to double their valuation, Databricks just raised another $5B at $134B valuation (up from $100B in August 2025), and OpenAI just closed a round at a $730B valuation, up from $500B last year. 

The Bottom Line

VCX is the way to jump the velvet rope that has kept retail out of the best private tech companies for two decades. Their portfolio should cause you to salivate, the fee structure is competitive, and the demand for scarce private AI exposure is strong. Tomorrow is the day. Hold on to your butts. 

My position: Long $276k in Innovation Fund, soon to be VCX. 

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TL;DR: VCX is Fundrise's Innovation Fund going public on the NYSE tomorrow, March 19. Closed-end fund holding Anduril, OpenAI, SpaceX, Anthropic, Databricks, Ramp, and more. Flat 1.85% fee, no carry. Returned 43.5% in 2025. Going public frees up 25% currently sitting in bonds, improving the return profile. Comparable fund DXYZ trades at a significant premium because people will pay up for scarce private AI exposure — VCX has a better portfolio and lower fees. This sub slept on the Innovation Fund. Don't miss out out VCX.

VCX Launch announcement

Video explaining VCX

Not financial advice. Do your own research. Don't bet money you can't afford to lose. Speculative bets should be a small part of your overall portfolio. May the Schwartz be with you.