Private markets historically follow public market trends with a lag. This prompts the question: How U.S.-centric is today’s venture secondary market? And what is the real state of non-U.S. activity?

Executive summary

The non-U.S. segment of the venture secondary market has been fluctuating between 14% and 25% of total market volume in recent quarters.

The leading countries contributing to this non-U.S. activity are the United Kingdom, China, Canada, Sweden, and Australia, each hosting companies that are increasingly active in secondary transactions.

Sectoral composition varies notably from the U.S. market. Non-U.S. companies are less concentrated in AI, with the UK dominated by digital banking firms and Australia by SaaS companies, indicating regional sectoral specialization.

A significant share of non-U.S. secondary volume is concentrated in a small group of companies—dubbed the “Non-U.S. Magnificent 7”: Bytedance, Revolut, Klarna, Monzo, Cohere, Airwallex, Canva.

From a liquidity perspective, non-U.S. tickets tend to be slightly more liquid than the broader market, with the Non-U.S. Magnificent 7 showing liquidity metrics on par with companies in the Launchbay 25 Index, such as tighter bid-ask spreads and higher near-mid price volumes.

Activity Breakdown

Our internal data on active secondary companies listed on the Launchbay platform:

In 2024, non-U.S. companies represented up to 26% of all active secondary opportunities by number of companies.

By volume, non-U.S. deals accounted for up to 20% of total listings.

However, in Q1 2025, the non-U.S. share of listed volume dropped to just 13%. While this may look significant, we caution against declaring a trend yet — overall secondary volumes declined across the board in Q1, and the market increasingly concentrated on the most in-demand names.
Example: In March 2025, companies in the Launchbay 25 Index accounted for 77% of all volume — a sharp increase from the ~60% average in 2024.

A contributing factor to the Q1 dip is the sharp reduction in activity around ByteDance, historically the largest non-U.S. ticket by volume. Its listed volume nearly halved in Q1, likely due to rising regulatory and political uncertainty surrounding the company’s U.S. operations.

Most active countries
On a geographic level, China, the UK, and Sweden consistently led in listed secondary deal volume throughout 2024. However, a decline was observed in Q1 2025 across most regions, especially in Sweden and Australia, both nearing zero activity. China remained the largest contributor among non-U.S. countries in Q1 2025, despite a drop from its Q4 peak. 

Non-US Magnificent 7
The non-U.S. segment is highly concentrated. Just seven companies — the “Non-U.S. Magnificent 7” — consistently make up the vast majority of non-U.S. volume, holding between 76% and 80% share in each quarter.

Non-U.S. venture secondary markets are significantly less focused on AI, with the notable exception of Canada. While 30% of listed deal volume in the U.S. came from AI companies in 2024 and Q1 2025, other countries showed minimal AI exposure—Canada being the outlier at 90%. In contrast, countries like the UK, Sweden, and China are dominated by sectors such as digital banking and media, showing a far more concentrated or sector-specific landscape.

Secondary Pricing, Returns and liquidity
As of May 2025:

• Non-U.S. companies are trading at a median discount of 13% to their latest valuations, compared to a 25% median discount for U.S. companies—indicating stronger relative pricing in the non-U.S. segment.
• The Non-U.S. Magnificent 7 show even tighter spreads, with a median discount of just 3%.
• In terms of returns, non-U.S. companies are in line with U.S. peers at 17% YoY, while elite names in both segments outperform significantly.
  

The venture secondary market remains heavily U.S.-focused, but non-U.S. companies play a material — if concentrated — role. While Q1 2025 saw a volume dip in the non-U.S. segment, pricing remains resilient, and performance is competitive. With public markets shifting gradually toward global diversification, non-U.S. secondaries may follow suit — especially if pricing and return profiles continue to strengthen.

From a liquidity standpoint, non-U.S. shares appear more liquid than the broader universe of active companies, as they typically exhibit narrower bid-ask spreads.
Notably, the liquidity of non-U.S. “Mag 7” companies is comparable to that of firms in the Launchbay 25 Index. In 2024 and Q1 2025, Launchbay 25 companies showed a median near-mid price volume share of 67% and a median spread of 0.67%, indicating strong order book depth and pricing efficiency.

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Other significant non-U.S. companies on a secondary market**

IPO Activity
Looking ahead to IPO activity, 12 non-U.S. companies out of the 40 tracked in our IPO Barometer have signaled concrete plans to go public in the near future.