A seismic shift is underway, altering the landscape of private markets. It is a shift characterized by a broadening investor base, evolving fund structures and modernized distribution channels for access.

For decades, private markets were built around closed-end, drawdown funds that favored institutions and ultra-high-net-worth investors. High minimums, capital calls, multiyear lockups, and complex, technology-lite reporting shaped the terrain, keeping most investors at a distance.

However, several forces have converged to redraw the map. Institutional fundraising has slowed as legacy LPs run up against allocation limits. Meanwhile, technology, digital reporting and modern distribution platforms have lowered barriers that once made private assets operationally challenging for advisers and individuals.

At the same time, the shrinking roster of public companies has investors and wealth advisers seeking differentiated return sources outside of public markets. And regulatory developments are pointing toward broadening participation. New partnerships between traditional and alternative asset managers are being announced almost weekly as the investment industry jockeys for position.

Evergreen funds—interval, tender offer funds, unlisted BDCs, unlisted REITs and other perpetual-life vehicles—have emerged as the bridge between these forces. They offer continuous subscriptions at NAV, periodic liquidity, and streamlined tax reporting.

What once required million-dollar, multi-year commitments can now be accessed through low-investment minimums and distribution channels designed for a broader investing public.

 

The lunar space economy is entering a new stage.

Commercial and government activities taking shape across the Earth-moon system, also known as the cislunar market, are shifting decisively from long-dated vision to near-term infrastructure build-out, according to new PitchBook research. Falling launch costs and a surge in government-backed lunar missions have turned transportation, mobility, communications and power into the investable foundation of the Earth–moon system.

The central finding is straightforward: Access is no longer the bottleneck. Launch costs have declined roughly 20x over the past decade, and more than 100 lunar missions are planned globally this decade. As a result, the constraint has moved from getting mass off Earth to moving it efficiently across cislunar space.

PitchBook estimates that near-term infrastructure demand—spanning logistics, communications and transport—could reach $15 billion to $25 billion annually by the early 2030s, with the longer-run lunar economy expanding toward $100 billion to $150 billion beyond 2040.

Venture activity reflects this shift. In 2025, cislunar startups have raised $1.9 billion across 114 deals, accounting for about 18% of all space-tech VC. Median deal sizes increased to $5 million, while median pre-money valuations compressed to $40 million—signaling a more disciplined funding environment.

 

Capital is clustering around landers, in-space mobility, and "picks-and-shovels" utilities such as communications and power, rather than speculative downstream applications.

Government demand remains the primary economic engine. NASA's Artemis program alone accounted for roughly $53 billion in contracts between 2021 and 2025, with additional anchor tenancy coming from CLPS awards and emerging Department of Defense cislunar initiatives. As the report notes, this sovereign spending "materially de-risks early market phases," allowing private capital to underwrite infrastructure ahead of commercial demand.

For investors and operators, the implication is clear: The next decade of the lunar economy will be infrastructure-first.

Higher-order applications like in-situ resource utilization and construction remain gated by reliability, cadence and low-technology readiness level utilities.

Survivorship will be determined less by vision and more by execution—clearing technical milestones, securing government backlog, and scaling repeatable systems in one of the most unforgiving operating environments ever commercialized.