Venture capital has long been one of the most exclusive parts of the investment world.

The best opportunities in the private market were reserved for venture funds, large institutions, and wealthy investors who met strict income or net worth rules.

But Robinhood wants to change that.

It launched Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI) earlier this year and followed with Robinhood Ventures Fund II (RVII) just last week.

These two funds, although very different, both use their capital to invest in privately held companies.

You can buy and sell them just like you would any stock or ETF, which means just about anyone can invest like a venture capitalist now.

Today, I want to talk to you about why these funds deserve your attention.

RVI: Private Companies You Already Know

RVI began trading in March and focuses on more mature private companies. Its portfolio includes names like OpenAI, Databricks, and Stripe.

Those aren’t tiny startups operating out of someone’s garage. Several are already among the most valuable private companies in the world.

That makes the appeal of RVI easy to understand.

Investors who wanted exposure to companies like OpenAI or SpaceX traditionally had very few options before they went public.

But this fund provides another route, and investors have certainly noticed.

RVI began trading around $21 in March. It later surged above $70 before giving back much of those gains.

However, it’s important to understand that its stock price and the value of its investments are not necessarily the same thing.

That brings me to the term “net asset value” (or NAV).

NAV is the estimated value of everything a fund owns, minus what it owes, divided by its number of shares.

Imagine a fund owns $100 million in investments and has 4 million shares. Its NAV would be about $25 per share.

But a closed-end fund trades on an exchange. That means investors determine its market price.

If investors are willing to pay $30 for a fund with a $25 NAV, it trades at a 20% premium to NAV. If they will only pay $20, it trades at a 20% discount.

RVI reported an NAV of $25.02 per share as of June 30. Yet its market price has at times moved far above that level.

That distinction is important.

Buying RVI isn’t just a bet on OpenAI, Stripe, or the other companies it owns. The price you pay for that exposure matters too.

RVII: Investing Before Anyone Knows the Names

If RVI gives you access to private companies you already know, RVII is trying to do something very different.

That makes RVII a bit more interesting.

The fund focuses on early-stage companies tied to Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s most famous startup programs.

If you don’t know Y Combinator, you probably know some of its graduates. The list includes Airbnb, Coinbase, DoorDash, Reddit, Stripe, and OpenAI.

Of course, nobody knew those companies would become giants when they were getting started. That’s the entire point of venture capital.

Invest early, accept that many companies won't work, and hope that a few enormous winners more than make up for the failures.

RVII has already invested in roughly 80 startups working in areas like AI, robotics, healthcare, financial technology, and other fast-growing fields.

The fund raised about $225 million in its IPO and began trading on the NYSE last week.

Before you think about buying, there is an important trade-off to acknowledge.

RVI owns stakes in private companies that have already proven a lot. They could still become far more valuable, but they are already worth enormous sums.

RVII, on the other hand, is entering much earlier. That means the potential gains from a future superstar could be much larger.

It also means the risks are higher.

Some of these startups will probably fail. Others may survive but never become very valuable.

And because the companies are private, figuring out exactly what each investment is worth can be difficult.

RVII also has a more expensive fee structure than RVI, including performance-based fees, which is worth knowing before putting money into the fund.

None of this means RVI or RVII is a good or bad investment today. In fact, I’m not recommending that you buy either one.

What interests me is what they represent.

Wall Street’s Velvet Rope Is Coming Down

For generations, venture capital operated behind a velvet rope.

If you were a large pension fund, endowment, venture capitalist, or wealthy accredited investor, you could get access. If you were an ordinary investor, you generally waited for an IPO.

Robinhood is chipping away at that barrier.

RVI offers public-market access to some of today’s best-known private companies.

RVII goes a step further by giving investors exposure to dozens of startups at a much earlier stage.

There are risks and fees. And with closed-end funds, there is always the question of how much you are paying compared with NAV.

But something important is happening here.

You no longer need to be rich or connected to gain some access to the world of venture capital.

That doesn’t mean you should rush out and buy these funds today. You should still know that they exist, though.

One of my main goals with Truth & Trends is to find new investment trends and opportunities and put them on your radar.

RVI and RVII are exactly that kind of development.

Robinhood helped open stock trading to a new generation of investors. Now it’s trying to open another door.

This time, the door leads to venture capital.