About HarbourVest

• Founded: 1982

• Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

• AUM: $116bn as of 2024

• Strategy: Global secondaries across buyout, venture, and growth equity

• Track record: One of the largest dedicated secondaries investors globally, with annual transaction volume exceeding $10bn in recent years

• Leadership: Founded by Kevin Delbridge; current managing directors include John Hodges and Ed Gascoigne-Pees

HarbourVest has led a €526m continuation vehicle for EQT's venture capital portfolio. The transaction allows EQT to retain exposure to high-conviction venture assets while offering existing LPs liquidity or the option to roll into the new vehicle. Details on which portfolio companies transferred into the CV and the pricing relative to net asset value were not disclosed.

The deal signals sustained appetite for VC continuation vehicles despite compressed exit timelines across the asset class. HarbourVest's involvement — as both lead buyer and anchor LP — suggests confidence in secondary pricing for venture assets at a moment when public market comparables remain under pressure. EQT's decision to structure a CV rather than pursue direct sales or IPOs reflects a broader GP trend toward extending hold periods for companies that have not yet reached optimal exit windows.

VC continuation vehicles closed $8.2bn globally in 2023, down from $11.4bn in 2022 but still above pre-2021 levels. The structure has become a default tool for venture managers navigating the gap between private valuations and public market appetite. The HarbourVest-EQT transaction is among the larger VC CVs closed in Europe over the past 18 months, comparable to Accel's $500m vehicle in late 2023. Whether pricing holds as interest rates stabilize and IPO windows reopen remains an open question — for now, secondaries buyers are bridging the liquidity gap GPs cannot close through traditional exits.

Source: Secondaries Investor