There are many exciting, fast-growing companies that investors wish would go public so they could buy their stock. At the top of the initial public offering (IPO) wish lists for many investors are probably artificial intelligence (AI) model builder OpenAI, best known for its ChatGPT chatbot, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

A person generally has to be rich and well connected to invest in venture capital (VC)-backed private companies. But there’s a fund that enables everyday investors to invest in this asset class for a minimum of just $500: ARK Invest’s ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX -1.25%), run by well-known investor Cathie Wood.

Overall, this fund looks very attractive, though its limited liquidity means it wouldn’t be a good fit for certain investors. Its performance since inception just over three years ago has been very good.

Image source: Getty Images.

ARK Venture Fund: Overview

The ARK Venture Fund is an actively managed interval fund that invests primarily (but not entirely) in private companies. I’ll expound on what an “interval fund” means in a moment.

Key facts about the fund, as of the end of the third quarter (Sept. 30):

• Net assets: $325.3 million
• Minimum investment: $500
• Total annual fees: 2.9%. This is higher than non-managed index-based funds, but that’s to be expected. So far, the fund’s good performance has been worth paying this fee.
• Total holdings: 66; 81.9% private companies/18.1% publicly traded companies by weightings.

Interval funds are so named because investors can only sell at set “intervals.” This limited liquidity stems from non-public companies not trading daily on stock exchanges like individual stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

ARK Venture Fund’s investors can only request redemptions on a quarterly basis. And only up to 5% of the net asset value (NAV) of the fund can be redeemed by investors each quarter. So, investors should only invest the money they are sure they will not quickly need in the near future.

ARK Venture Fund: Top 10 holdings

Data sources: ARK Venture Fund and YCharts. Weight data as of Sept. 30, 2025; performance data as of Oct. 10, 2025.

The fund is more concentrated than its total holdings of 66 might suggest. The top 10 holdings account for half of the fund’s weighting.

Here are the top five holdings.

1. SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches rockets and spacecraft. CEO and Chairman Elon Musk founded the Texas-based company in 2002, which is two years before he joined electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla, of which he is CEO and legally considered a founder.

SpaceX is the world’s leading space launch provider, has contracts with NASA and other government entities, and operates the Starlink internet satellite constellation.

2. Figure AI

Figure AI, based in Silicon Valley, is developing and manufacturing AI-powered humanoid robots for general-purpose use. It was founded in 2022.

The company’s investors include such technology heavyweights as AI chip and tech leader Nvidia (NVDA -4.84%) — whose technology Figure AI uses — Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon, Microsoft, and OpenAI.

3. Neuralink

Musk co-founded this company in 2016 to develop a human brain-computer interface. It’s based in Silicon Valley, but expanding near Austin, Texas. The company’s near-term goal is to help people with paralysis control external devices, while the ultimate aim is to merge the human brain with AI.

Notable investors include Alphabet‘s Google Ventures and OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman.

4. OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI company founded by Altman, Musk, and others in 2015. Musk is no longer associated with the San Francisco-based company, as he and Altman had a very public falling out.

OpenAI launched its popular ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. This event triggered the frenzy among companies to obtain generative AI capabilities, as ChatGPT wowed users with the amazing capabilities of this then-new type of AI.

In 2025, OpenAI has made several massive deals. In January, it announced Stargate, a $500 billion U.S. AI infrastructure joint venture with Oracle and SoftBank Group. Nvidia is the technology partner.

Last week, OpenAI and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices announced AMD will supply 6 gigawatts of its Instinct series graphics processing units (GPUs) to power OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure. In addition, OpenAI plans to buy up to a 10% stake in AMD.

That deal follows just weeks after OpenAI’s megadeal with AI GPU leader Nvidia, which involves OpenAI deploying at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems for its next-generation AI infrastructure. Moreover, Nvidia plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI.

Nvidia’s massive planned investment follows it joining an OpenAI funding round last year. Microsoft has been an early and huge funder of OpenAI and the two have a strategic partnership.

5. Lambda Labs

Lambda Labs is a Silicon Valley-based AI company that was founded in 2012. It bills itself as “The Superintelligence Cloud,” and builds massive AI factories based on Nvidia’s GPUs.

Nvidia and Super Micro Computers are strategic investors, and several OpenAI co-founders are also investors. The Information has reported that Lambda is aiming for an IPO in the first half of 2026.