Private Markets Sector
Private markets saw significant momentum as Nvidia aligned with major Wall Street firms to raise $500 billion in debt financing for AI infrastructure, while Accel closed a $550 million India fund. Strong financial performances emerged from Figure Technology, which doubled marketplace volume to $4.3 billion, and Nubank, which topped $1 billion in quarterly profit. Conversely, regulatory and corporate governance troubles surfaced with a 15-year prison sentence for Delio's CEO over a $50 million crypto fraud and an ongoing battle for board control at Better.
Nvidia partnered with six major Wall Street firms to establish financing platforms aimed at mobilizing more than $500 billion for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang announced agreements with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to shift the financing of AI data centers and graphics processing units away from corporate balance sheets and into institutional debt markets. Under the structure, independent vehicles will raise third-party capital from pension funds and insurers to purchase Nvidia hardware, which client companies will then lease. This arrangement transforms high-end GPUs into long-lived, revenue-generating infrastructure assets backed by compute-usage cash flows rather than short-term technology expenses. Nvidia may provide residual-value support of up to 25% for select projects to backstop the debt. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs estimates that AI-related financing already accounts for nearly one-quarter of all gross U.S. investment-grade issuance as total sector spending approaches $600 billion.
Accel has closed a $550 million early-stage fund for India as part of a coordinated $3.5 billion global fundraising effort across four separate vehicles. The new India fund, which is Accel's ninth for the country, was oversubscribed and closed within weeks despite the firm retaining more than 50% of its previous $650 million India vehicle. Accel does not expect to begin deploying capital from the new $550 million fund until 2027, continuing instead to draw from its earlier pool of dry powder. The broader $3.5 billion raise also includes an $1.35 billion global expansion fund, alongside $800 million dedicated to the US and another $800 million for Europe and Israel. While the US and European funds grew from their prior vintages, the new India fund is $100 million smaller than its predecessor.
A South Korean court sentenced Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho to 15 years in prison after convicting him of defrauding users out of approximately $50 million in cryptocurrency. Operating as a digital asset bank launched in 2022, Delio accepted bitcoin and ether deposits by promising high yields before abruptly blocking customer withdrawals in June 2023. Prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence and alleged the scheme affected 2,800 victims, but the court narrowed the scope to over 1,100 investors after throwing out evidence on procedural grounds. The platform falsely obtained a virtual asset trading license and subsequently declared bankruptcy in November 2024. Defense lawyers are expected to appeal the ruling.