Anthropic, the developer of Claude AI, filed a confidential S-1 draft with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, unofficially beginning the countdown toward one of history’s largest IPOs. The company’s most recent funding round valued it at $965 billion—already making it one of the world’s most valuable companies before most public investors get access.
But you don’t have to wait for the IPO to gain portfolio exposure to Anthropic. There are four paths to ownership, ranked from easiest to most exclusive.
1. Invest in Anthropic’s Major Partners
Amazon and Alphabet are two of Anthropic’s largest backers and earliest investors. Both have invested in and work closely with the company on cloud services and AI chips.
Based on reports and previous regulatory filings, estimates put Amazon’s stake at between 15% and 20%, while Alphabet holds approximately 14%. For investors seeking straightforward Anthropic exposure, owning these two tech giants provides more than just their Anthropic stakes—their dominance across cloud computing, e-commerce, digital advertising, and AI offer compelling investment reasons independent of Anthropic.
2. Buy an ETF with Anthropic Holdings
The KraneShares Artificial Intelligence and Technology ETF (AGIX) invests in both public and private companies. Anthropic is currently the ETF’s largest private investment at about 1.7% of net assets. While not a large slice, it provides immediate Anthropic exposure through a diversified fund with over five dozen holdings.
AGIX charges an annual fee of 0.99%, which is reasonable for access to Anthropic alongside other private AI companies and numerous public technology stocks. For investors seeking diversified AI exposure without picking individual companies, AGIX offers a straightforward path.
3. Explore Private Market Funds
For deeper exposure, investors can look to closed-end funds like the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), which invests in a combination of public and private companies. These funds are more exclusive than ETFs—they raise limited capital, typically aren’t publicly traded, charge higher fees, and require higher minimum investments.
The ARK Venture Fund holds significantly greater exposure to nonpublic AI companies than AGIX. Anthropic and OpenAI make up approximately 6.4% and 8.5% of the fund respectively. While the fund’s gross annual fee of 3.49% might be too high for some investors, private markets are often the best way to gain meaningful investment exposure to companies like Anthropic before going public.
4. Secondary Market Trading
The most direct route involves buying actual shares of Anthropic on the secondary market. However, this option is typically limited to professional investors and high-net-worth individuals with access through broker connections or market makers.
Secondary market investing brings significant complexities—trades are difficult to execute, transaction fees are higher, and minimum investments are substantial. This realistic option for only a select few, but it does exist for those with appropriate access.
For most investors, waiting for Anthropic’s IPO remains a practical option. But those wanting earlier exposure have realistic paths available through major partner companies, diversified ETFs, or private venture funds. Each offers different risk-return profiles and investment minimums, allowing investors to choose the path matching their investment style and financial capacity.
Anthropic’s valuation suggests it will command attention when it eventually goes public. Early exposure through these four paths provides an alternative for investors unwilling to wait.
