VC Secondary Market Trends | February 2026 | PM Insights

Institutional secondary market-driven data insights covering a universe of private venture-backed companies.

March 4, 2026

‍PM Insights offers a comprehensive look at private market activity, covering sector trends, company-level insights, and monthly performance metrics.

The February 2026 report highlights movements in ROI, volatility, volumes, and valuations, while tracking institutional involvement and comparing current secondary market prices to recent funding rounds.

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Key Takeaways

PM50 Growth: Performance settled at +0.88%, down from +7.60% in January 2026, indicating a cooling in momentum after a strong start to the year
Average Trade Volume: Average trade volume in February 2026 reached $12.83 million, up 119.98% from January 2026
Sector Return: ‍Aerospace topped sector performance with a +5.3% gain, signaling strong momentum
Monthly Bid-Ask Volume: Volume dropped to $22.68 billion, reflecting a slowdown in activity following the January peak of $38.97 billion‍
Largest increase: Mercury's bid-ask volume was up +3567.45%, from $7.60 million to $279.70 million

Monthly Statistics

|| Monthly statistics from January, 2021 until February, 2026

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Monthly PM50 Growth ROI

The chart below shows PM50 Growth’s month-on-month ROI.

Early Growth Phase (2021)
- January 2021 – Returns reached a peak of +16.25%, showing strong early gains‍
Market Correction Period (2022 - Early 2023)‍
- June 2022 – Performance dropped to a low of -10.50% after a steady decline
- Mid 2022 to Early 2023 – Returns remained largely negative, reflecting weak market conditions‍
Recovery and Expansion (Mid- 2023-2025)‍
- May 2023 onward – Performance turned positive, with momentum gradually building
- February 2025 – Returns climbed to a post-rebound high of +15.33%
- February 2026 – Performance settled at +0.88%, reflecting a slowdown after a period of stronger returns

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Monthly Institutional Level Activity

The chart below shows the monthly count of institutional-level ($1M+) bid, ask, or trade contributions.

Reduced Participation Period
- December 2021 – Recorded the lowest levels at 185 contributions, highlighting reduced interest‍
Notable Activity Spikes‍
- April 2022 and March 2023 – Marked by notable spikes of 636 and 688 transactions‍
Peak Institutional Demand‍
- January 2026 – Activity reached a record 996 contributions, signaling peak demand
Recent Trends
- February 2026 -Activity decreased to 635, indicating a pullback following January’s peak

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Monthly Total Bid and Ask Volume

The chart below presents total monthly bid and ask volumes tracked by PM Insights.

Reduced Liquidity Period‍
- December 2021 – Fell to $2.12 billion, reflecting reduced activity‍
Notable Volume Spikes‍
- April 2022 and March 2023 –Volume surged to $12.64 billion and $19.23 billion, respectively
Peak Volume
- January 2026 – Volume peaked at $38.97 billion, nearly double the prior peak of $19.59 billion in Dec 2025
Recent Market Conditions
- February 2026 - Volume dropped to $22.68 billion, reflecting a slowdown in activity following the January peak

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Monthly Bid and Ask Volume Ratio

The stacked bar chart below shows the total monthly bid and ask volumes alongside their relative ratios.

Largest bid-side activity: 57% of $4.90 billion in January 2021‍
Largest ask-side activity: 94% of $12.64 billion in April 2022
February 2026: Ask-side activity was 77% of $22.68 billion

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Monthly Mean Volume per Indication Type

The chart below presents the monthly average volumes for asks, bids, and trades over the period from January 2021 to January 2026.

Asks:
- Highest average ask volume: $43.25 million in June 2021
- Lowest average ask volume: $7.59 million in January 2024
- February 2026 average ask volume: $13.20 million, up +14.95% from January 2026

Bids:
- Highest average bid volume: $33.58 million in June 2021
- Lowest average bid volume: $6.12 million in February 2022
- February 2026 average bid volume: $13.58 million, up +15.68% from January 2026

Trades:
- Highest average trade volume: $15.65 million in June 2021
- Lowest average trade volume: $1.18 million in October 2024
- February 2026 average trade volume: $12.83 million, up +119.98% from January 2026

All:
- Highest average volume: $33.82 million in June 2021
- Lowest average volume: $7.26 million in November 2023
- February 2026 average volume: $12.48 million, up +17.54% from January 2026

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Sectors

Headquarters

CEO

ROI Private & Public

|| ROI from February 28, 2025 until February 28, 2026

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_{The PM50 Growth tracks the performance of the 50 most active private names observed in the secondary market. It is an equal-weighted index, rebalanced on a monthly basis.}

_{This rebalancing of constituents over time gives way for more active names to participate in what we observe as "market performance," and in a more appropriate manner than static selections and weightings criteria.}

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Private Market: Sector Level for February 2026

|| Sector-level analysis for February 2026‍

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MoM Return on Investment (ROI)

The graph below displays the MoM ROI, broken down by PM Insights’ actively tracked sectors, covering the period from January 31, 2026 to February 28, 2026.

Strongest gain: Aerospace topped sector performance with a +5.3% gain, signaling strong momentum
Highest decline: Banking posted the lowest performance at -6.63%
PM50 Growth: Achieved a +0.88% gain, maintaining positive performance following January’s strong gains

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Volatility of ROI

The volatility of the ROI is calculated based on the ROI movements within a 90-day rolling window ending on that date. ROI is calculated from the start of 2021. The graph below shows the top 20 sectors ranked by ROI volatility as of February 28, 2026.

Highest volatility: AI led all sectors at 264%, indicating pronounced price swings and elevated investor uncertainty
Lowest volatility: Security and Talent Management sector recorded just 24%, signaling relatively stable and consistent performance
PM50 Growth: Volatility stood at 109%, indicating notable price movement but significantly lower volatility than the AI sector

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Total Bid and Ask Volume Ratio

The stacked bar chart below highlights total ask and bid volumes, along with their ratios, across sectors for selected companies with notable activity during the time period between February 1, 2026 and February 28, 2026.

Highest bid ratio – Banking and Neobank sector led in buy-side activity, with bids making up 96.47% of their $288.70 million total volume
Highest ask ratio – InvestmentTech sector saw the strongest sell-side activity, with asks accounting for 100% of $28.40 million volume
PM50 Growth – Sell-side activity dominated, with asks representing 75.22% of the $19.93 billion in total volume

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Most Active Names Performance Across All Sectors

Data as of February 28, 2026

90D Return △ - Trend of return on composite price

90D % △ - Change in composite price in terms of percentage

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_{Price (USD) estimated based on secondary market activity observed by PM Insights. Valuation is estimated based on said price and share count from state filings and/or news in the public domain. Note that share count in calculations may change as new filing documents are obtained.}

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Change in Composite Price (MoM)

PM Insights highlights the top five and bottom five companies in terms of change in composite price between January 31, 2026 and February 28, 2026 with significant activities i.e. at least 3 institutional-level contributions—to identify those experiencing the most notable shifts in market sentiment.

Strongest gain: Cerebras Systems' composite price rose by +64.32%
Largest decline: Cohere's composite price fell -18.21%

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Change in Total Bid and Ask Volume (MoM)

PM Insights highlights the top five and bottom five companies with significant activities in terms of change in total bid and ask volume between January 31, 2026 and February 28, 2026.

Largest increase: Mercury, up +3567.45%, from $7.60 million to $279.70 million
Largest decrease: Kraken, down -85.16%, from $135.30 million to $20.10 million

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Proportion of Change in Valuation

The chart below highlights the ratio of companies in PM Insights' universe current trading levels relative to recent round valuations.

Latest vs prior round: 85% of companies raised new funding at a higher valuation than their previous round
Latest round vs current secondary market activity: 68% of companies are currently trading at lower valuations than their latest round

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