Unlocking Liquidity in Private Markets: Introducing Diwan Capital
The Liquidity Problem No One Has Solved—Until Now
Venture capital has always been about building the future—funding ambitious founders, scaling transformational companies, and generating massive returns. But there’s one part of the system that has barely evolved: liquidity.
Founders, employees, and early investors create immense value, yet their equity remains locked for 8 to 12 years before an IPO or acquisition. This waiting game wasn’t a problem when companies went public within five years. But today, with startups staying private longer than ever, liquidity has become the missing piece in venture capital.
$4.6 trillion is trapped in venture-backed unicorns.
$1.1 trillion in aging VC funds is struggling to return capital to LPs.
Secondary transactions remain inefficient, unstructured, and misaligned with founders.
This isn’t a niche issue—it’s a massive, growing problem that affects everyone in the venture ecosystem.
Startups need structured ways to offer liquidity—without harming valuation or losing control.
Employees should be able to cash out some of their shares without waiting a decade.
VCs and early investors need structured exit options that don’t force them into deep-discount sales.
Institutional investors and HNWIs want better access to private secondaries without the inefficiencies of fragmented marketplaces.
Despite the clear demand, most liquidity solutions today are broken.
Why Existing Solutions Fail
Liquidity options exist, but none of them work at scale. Every major attempt to bring liquidity to private markets has failed for the same reasons: misalignment, inefficiency, and lack of control.
Private Stock Exchanges Have Failed
Several platforms have tried to create a Nasdaq for private companies, but the model simply doesn’t work.
Startups don’t want their shares freely traded—it creates governance issues and exposes them to price volatility.
Lack of pricing control disrupts valuation expectations—impacting future fundraising.
Cap table chaos—when shares are scattered across unapproved investors, startups lose strategic control.
Public stock markets function because companies accept liquidity as part of their identity. Private companies don’t. Founders want control over who owns their shares, how their price is set, and when liquidity events happen.
Secondary Funds Misalign Incentives
The traditional secondary market is dominated by large secondary funds that exist to acquire startup equity at deep discounts.
Founders don’t control the liquidity event or pricing.
Secondary funds demand steep discounts—sometimes 30-50%, which hurts the company’s valuation.
Early employees and investors are often forced into liquidity events they didn’t initiate.
This model benefits the secondary fund, not the startup. Liquidity should be structured, founder-driven, and designed to protect startup value—not dictated by opportunistic funds.
Introducing Diwan: Startup-Led Secondary Liquidity
Diwan is not a secondary fund. It’s not a marketplace. It’s not an exchange.
It’s the liquidity infrastructure that lets startups run structured, periodic secondary liquidity programs—on their terms.
Startups initiate their own secondary offerings—setting the price, selecting buyers, and maintaining cap table stability.
Investors access vetted secondaries with structured pricing, avoiding the chaos of fragmented marketplaces.
Diwan automates execution—handling structuring, pricing, investor matching, compliance, and transaction finalization.
Instead of forcing liquidity onto startups through external market forces, Diwan lets them structure liquidity exactly when and how they need it.
The Technology Behind Diwan’s Liquidity Engine
Liquidity at scale requires more than just matchmaking—it demands automation, precision, and data-driven execution. That’s why Diwan is built as a scalable, AI-powered liquidity infrastructure.
AI-Powered Pricing & Liquidity Modeling
Real-time secondary price discovery based on startup metrics, comparable transactions, and investor demand.
Predictive analytics to optimize secondary rounds, ensuring fair pricing and alignment with future fundraising.
Automated Secondary Execution Engine
End-to-end automation—from investor approvals to regulatory compliance, eliminating manual friction.
Integration with cap table management tools, ensuring seamless transaction updates.
Smart Investor Matching Algorithm
Vetted, curated investors matched based on startup criteria.
No speculative trading or random share transfers—all transactions are structured and approved by the startup.
Startup-Led Secondary Infrastructure
No continuous trading—avoiding the failure of private exchanges.
Founder and VC-controlled liquidity events—unlike secondary funds that operate without startup approval.
API-based integration with cap table management platforms for seamless execution.
Diwan is not just another marketplace—it’s a structured liquidity engine that automates and optimizes every part of the secondary transaction process.
A Scalable Liquidity Platform, Not a One-Off Brokerage
Diwan isn’t a transactional brokerage—it’s a scalable, high-margin fintech platform with multiple revenue streams.
Startup Subscriptions (Recurring SaaS Revenue)
Startups pay $10K - $15K per year for liquidity infrastructure.
Pricing tiers based on startup stage and secondary volume needs.
Creates predictable, recurring revenue while expanding deal flow.
Transaction Fees (Aligned with Secondary Deal Success)
5% - 10% of secondary transaction volume, built into the secondaries discount spread.
Scales as transaction volume grows.
Ensures Diwan’s incentives are aligned with startup success.
Premium Investor Subscriptions (Data & Intelligence)
Investors pay $5K - $10K per year for access to valuation analytics, secondary pricing data, and premium reports.
Creates a high-margin, scalable data business alongside liquidity transactions.
This model ensures that Diwan isn’t just another secondary transaction facilitator—it’s a recurring revenue business, a scalable fintech platform, and a long-term liquidity infrastructure.
How Diwan Scales: The Liquidity Flywheel
Liquidity is a network effect business. The more startups and investors participate, the stronger the platform becomes.
More startups onboard → They bring secondary liquidity opportunities.
More investors subscribe → Demand increases for structured secondaries.
More liquidity transactions flow → More data is generated.
More data improves pricing accuracy → Investor confidence grows.
The cycle repeats, creating compounding network effects.
As Diwan scales, it becomes the default liquidity layer for venture-backed startups.
Investing in Diwan: A $500K Round to Build the Future of Private Market Liquidity
We are raising $500K in a SAFE note (discount, no cap) to:
Build our core liquidity infrastructure—ensuring seamless execution and compliance.
Develop legal & SPV structuring to standardize secondary transactions.
Acquire accredited investors and institutional buyers to scale secondary offerings.
Source top-tier secondary deals in collaboration with leading VC firms.
This is an opportunity to invest not in a marketplace, not in a fund, but in the liquidity infrastructure that will define private markets.
Final Thoughts: The Future of Private Market Liquidity
Liquidity should not be an afterthought in venture capital. It should be structured, founder-aligned, and scalable.
Diwan is building the liquidity engine that will power the next generation of startup secondaries.
This is an inflection point. The secondary market is evolving, and we are leading that evolution.
Let’s build the future of liquidity together.
