A raft of new software, and Internet-enabled services are infiltrating every industry.

Uber roiled the transport industry; Airbnb disrupted hospitality; Revolut, Stripe, and Robinhood are disintermediating the financial sector; while the likes of Slack, Figma, and Notion are redefining the enterprise. At the same time, we are entering the brave new world of generative AI. ChatGPT and other frontier models have become as essential as having a laptop. GenAI is redefining search as it increasingly becomes a thought partner and similarly, it is replacing the enterprise tool stack with AI-native, role-specific applications like coding co-pilots and legal task automation.

While the public has access to the products and services of these tech disrupters, the companies themselves remain private - postponing their public listing until they reach multi-billion-dollar valuations. Consequently, the lion’s share of returns accrue to private market investors.

Private tech investing has moved from optional to essential.