Some of the most closely watched technology companies in the world have something in common: ordinary public-market investors cannot easily buy them.

Shaires Holdings (AIM:SHR)  is betting that this gap represents an opportunity. The London-listed investment company has assembled an initial private technology portfolio worth up to US$86.7 million, bringing together names including Anthropic, Stripe, ByteDance, Figure AI, SandboxAQ, Moonshot AI and Colossal Biosciences.

It is an unusual collection for an AIM-listed vehicle - and the more interesting part may be how Shaires is gaining access to it.

Rather than simply writing cheques, the company is using a combination of cash purchases, options over interests held in special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) and share-for-share contributions. In two cases, holders of private technology assets are effectively swapping something difficult to sell for something they can trade on AIM.

That structure could prove to be the real story.

Shaires is also opening that proposition to individual investors. The company has launched a WRAP Retail Offer at US$20 per share, allowing retail investors to participate in the fundraising alongside institutional investors. The offer has been extended and is now due to close on 24 August 2026.

The US$20 price matches Shaires' recently completed US$28.5 million institutional placing. A second institutional tranche is also underway, with the company targeting US$100 million across the two institutional raises, the retail offer and initial in-kind contributions.

The private-market problem

For years, investors have watched companies such as Anthropic and Stripe grow into technology powerhouses while remaining private. The value creation happens before an initial public offering, rather than after it.

Shaires is positioning itself to capture that part of the lifecycle.

Anthropic, the developer of the Claude family of AI models, accounts for up to US$16.2 million of Shaires' portfolio. The exposure is priced against Anthropic's US$965 billion Series H valuation.

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, Douyin and the Doubao AI assistant, represents another US$15 million commitment, based on a US$585 billion valuation.

Then there is Figure AI, where Shaires has an option to invest up to US$14.5 million at a US$39 billion valuation.

These are not speculative start-ups at the idea stage. They are businesses that have already attracted enormous private-market valuations, substantial capital and significant commercial attention.

The thesis is straightforward: if these companies continue to grow, Shaires wants public-market shareholders to participate before they potentially become household names in the listed world.

Seven names, seven different bets

The portfolio is also deliberately broader than an AI fund.

Stripe gives Shaires exposure to financial infrastructure and payments, with up to US$9.3 million priced against its US$159 billion February 2026 tender valuation.

SandboxAQ adds enterprise AI and quantum computing, with a US$14.8 million position in a business valued at about US$14 billion.

Colossal Biosciences brings biotechnology and genetics into the mix. Shaires is initially acquiring about US$12 million of shares in Colossal, valued at roughly US$10.3 billion, with the option to increase the holding to as much as US$42 million.

Moonshot AI provides exposure to China's rapidly developing AI sector through the Kimi family of large language models. The initial commitment is US$5 million at an implied valuation of about US$31.5 billion.

Taken together, the portfolio stretches from frontier AI and robotics to payments, quantum computing and biotechnology.

That diversity matters because Shaires is not trying to identify a single winner from the technology cycle. Instead, it is attempting to own pieces of several businesses operating at the edge of major technology trends.

Turning private shares into public liquidity

Perhaps the most distinctive element is the use of Shaires shares as consideration.

SandboxAQ is being acquired through an in-kind contribution. In return for the US$14.8 million interest, Shaires will issue 741,821 new shares at US$20 each.

Colossal follows a similar route. Shaires will issue 600,000 new shares at US$20 each for a US$12 million interest in the private company.

For the holders contributing those assets, the attraction is obvious. Private-company shares can be valuable but difficult to sell because transfers are often restricted and there may be no public market.

Shaires offers another route: exchange that private exposure for shares in a London-listed company.

For Shaires, meanwhile, the benefit is access to assets that might otherwise require significant cash funding.

The result is a structure in which the interests of public shareholders and private-asset contributors are brought together in one listed vehicle.

Why London?

There is another unusual element here. The people behind Shaires could have built this structure elsewhere.

Executive chairman Suhail Rizvi founded Rizvi Traverse in 2004 and has invested more than US$3.5 billion across technology and media, including early positions in SpaceX, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Chief executive Vivek Seth has more than 35 years of experience in corporate finance and capital markets, having advised on transactions exceeding US$110 billion.

Yet they chose AIM.

“We chose London deliberately,” said Shaires' chief executive Vivek Seth. “Being quoted on AIM allowed us to build Shaires as an internally managed company rather than an externally managed fund. That structure puts management, public shareholders and in-kind contributors on the same terms. We would rather be invited in than be one more name in a crowded market. London is at an inflection point of its own, and we are pleased to be arriving as that renewal begins.”

From seven holdings to fifteen

The initial portfolio may therefore be less important for what it is than for what it could become.

Shaires is targeting around 15 holdings and says further investment and contribution opportunities worth up to US$500 million are under advanced negotiation.

The model is also intended to be permanent capital. There is no fixed fund life forcing assets to be sold at a predetermined point.

Shaires is not trying to become another technology fund hidden inside a listed structure. It is attempting to make access to private technology the listed investment proposition itself.

View from Vox

Shaires has chosen an attention-grabbing way to enter the AIM market. The portfolio brings together some of the world's most valuable private technology businesses, while the in-kind structure offers a novel way of sourcing exposure without relying entirely on cash.

The bigger opportunity is the pipeline. If Shaires can continue converting hard-to-access private assets into a liquid, publicly traded portfolio, its seven opening positions could become the foundation for a much larger proposition.