Republic Note: A New Way to Invest in (and Trade) Startups

I spend most of my time as an analyst focusing analyzing individual startups. But starting next week, a new kind of investment might just rock the startup world.

Enter Republic Note

Meet Republic Note, a new digital asset from Republic that aims to make venture opportunities available to everyone.

Starting Dec. 6, 2023, Republic Note will be listed for public trading on INX’s platform, enabling any investor to participate in the profits generated by over 600 private companies in Republic’s portfolio. The vast majority of these companies aren’t available to individual investors today, including the likes of SpaceX, Dapper Labs, and Carta.

To be clear, Republic Note won’t give you a way to buy individual stakes in these businesses. Rather, to draw a comparison in the world of publicly-traded stocks, it acts similar to an exchange traded fund (ETF) by spreading your investment across those hundreds of private companies.

This news shouldn’t be entirely surprising, as it’s half a decade in the making; Republic previously published a white paper on Republic Note back in 2018 detailing its ambitions.

But now that Republic Note is becoming a reality, let’s take a closer look at what could make it a game-changer:

• Backed by a Robust Portfolio: The Note draws its strength from an expansive portfolio boasting stakes in over 600 private companies, a majority of which remain out of reach for 99% of investors. The portfolio is continuously expanding, with over 100 new additions so far in 2023.

• Profit-Sharing Mechanism: Operating as a profit-sharing security, it grants investors a share of the revenue generated by the portfolio. Each time the profit pool reaches $2 million (and noting the pool stands at $920,000 as of this writing), the dividends are paid out to Note holders.

• Alignment of Interests: The Note aligns the investors' interests with Republic's success metrics. The growth, quality, and size of the portfolio directly mirror the Republic’s company performance.

• Global Accessibility: Republic Note is open to everyone worldwide, with no need for accreditation, significant capital, or specific nationality requirements.

The Bottom Line

Just because Republic Note is available to everyone doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. Many investors will inevitably continue to prefer driving relative outperformance by investing in individual startups as opportunities arise — and I’ll continue to detail those opportunities here at Bottom Line Investing.

If you’re interested in broad participation in the world of startups and venture capital, however, and want a liquid digital asset that pays you dividends along the way, Republic Note might be a perfect fit for your portfolio.

To learn more about Republic Note and get notified when it starts trading, you can join its waitlist here.