Key Takeaways:
A new ETF strategy dubbed MANGOS has emerged after SpaceX's record IPO, betting that the next wave of trillion-dollar tech companies will reshape equity markets as venture capital pours into AI.
"The concentration of value in a small number of AI companies is unprecedented," said Kyle Stanford, director of VC Research at Pitchbook. "The three largest AI unicorns alone have seen their combined valuation nearly triple to $1.95 trillion in eight months."
SpaceX raised more than $85 billion in its June 12 debut, sending its valuation to $2.77 trillion. OpenAI, valued at $852 billion, and Anthropic, valued at $965 billion, have both filed confidentially for IPOs. The four largest venture rounds this year — OpenAI's $122 billion round, Anthropic's two rounds totaling $95 billion, and xAI's round — collectively raised $237 billion, accounting for 86.4% of all venture-growth deal value year to date.
The MANGOS strategy reflects a broader dynamic where a handful of AI and space companies absorb the majority of capital. Venture-growth deal value reached $274.2 billion through May, more than double the full-year 2025 total. The previous record for full-year venture-growth deal value was $91.6 billion in 2021 — this year's half-year total has already tripled that figure. But the concentration risk is significant: If public AI valuations contract, the private companies fueling this ETF trend could face similar markdowns, potentially triggering a pullback in the very inflows that created the strategy.
ETF providers are racing to launch products tracking the so-called MANGOS group — a concentrated basket of tech giants including AI leaders and SpaceX. The Tema Space Innovators ETF, which launched this year with a 10.6% allocation to SpaceX, has gathered $2.3 billion in assets. The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, a more traditional play with $14.2 billion in assets, has returned 33.7% over the past year.
The ETF trend mirrors a broader shift in venture capital. Andreessen Horowitz has closed $15 billion in new funds this year while making 74 seed, Series A, and Series B deals as of June 11. General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Sequoia Capital together accounted for another 104 early-stage deals. These megafunds use early-stage investments as deal-sourcing platforms, betting that a 20% stake in a future $100 billion IPO will generate returns that smaller funds cannot match.
The success of the MANGOS strategy hinges on how public markets receive the coming wave of mega-IPOs. SpaceX shares surged 19% on their first day of trading before falling back, closing at $153 after topping $225. OpenAI is now considering delaying its IPO to 2027, according to the New York Times, as its advisers caution that a volatile tech market may not support the $1 trillion valuation that Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has called a "nonstarter" to cut.
Anthropic, which confidentially filed on June 1, is expected to list later this year. The company raised funding at a $965 billion valuation in late May, overtaking OpenAI's $852 billion private valuation for the first time. Together, the three companies have created more value than all VC-backed IPOs this century, according to the NVCA/Pitchbook report.
The broader IPO pipeline remains thin beyond these names. About 830 unicorns were active in the U.S. as of 2025, with aggregate post-money valuations reaching a record $3.9 trillion. That figure has since grown to $6.6 trillion, driven almost entirely by the highest-valued AI companies continuing to close record funding rounds.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
