Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc.
Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. is a business development company that invests primarily in illiquid equity and equity-related securities of venture-stage technology and cleantech companies. It seeks long-term capital appreciation through direct investments in private companies, micro-cap public companies, and a limited sleeve of opportunistic public-market and derivative investments.
Fiscal year 2025 · change from previous year
Development 2020–2025
Business
Share of revenueIlliquid equity stakes in venture-stage technology companies, including common and preferred stock.
Warrants and other equity-linked instruments used to gain upside exposure to portfolio companies.
Debt-like investments that can provide interest income and potential conversion upside.
Smaller public-company positions, traded derivatives, and other opportunistic investments.
Exchange-traded and money market fund positions used for liquidity and capital preservation.
Customers
The fund does not sell products to end customers; its capital is deployed to portfolio companies and securities issuers. Its counterparties are mainly venture-stage technology and cleantech businesses, plus selected micro-cap public companies and secondary-market sellers. The investment thesis is to back companies with capital-gains potential rather than to generate operating revenue from customers.
Private technology issuers that receive direct equity or convertible capital to fund growth and commercialization.
Companies in renewable energy, emissions reduction, and resource-efficiency themes that fit the fund's technology mandate.
Small public issuers that may be underfollowed and offer asymmetric upside but higher volatility.
Existing holders of private securities from whom the fund may buy positions in organized secondary transactions.
Issuers or market participants involved in public securities, options, or distressed instruments.
Strategy
The fund's core strategy is to seek long-term capital growth by concentrating at least 80% of net assets in technology companies and at least 70% of total assets in private companies and micro-cap public companies. It emphasizes equity and equity-like securities, while allowing a smaller opportunistic allocation to public securities, derivatives, and distressed instruments to broaden return sources.
The mandate is designed to capture upside from sectors with higher growth potential and innovation-driven value creation.
A limited sleeve in public securities, derivatives, and distressed debt can add return sources and liquidity flexibility.
Direct private investments and secondary purchases can provide exposure to companies before public-market re-rating.
Geography
The fund is based in the United States and its portfolio is primarily managed from there. Its investment mandate is global in scope, as it may invest in securities of companies located outside the United States, but the reports provided do not disclose a country-level revenue mix because the business is an investment fund rather than an operating company.
Risks
The main risk is valuation uncertainty, because a large share of the portfolio is in illiquid private securities that must be marked to fair value without a ready market. Performance is also exposed to technology-sector cyclicality, portfolio-company failure, and macro shocks such as tariffs or trade restrictions that can disrupt customers, suppliers, and financing conditions.
Most portfolio investments are private and lack observable market prices, so NAV depends on judgment and valuation models.
Exposure: Illiquid equity and equity derivatives in private companies
Venture-stage companies are fragile and can lose much or all of their value if product, funding, or market conditions deteriorate.
Exposure: Private technology and cleantech investments
Private securities and secondary positions may be difficult to sell quickly without discounting.
Exposure: Private-company and micro-cap holdings
Tariffs and import/export restrictions can raise costs, reduce demand, and disrupt supply chains for portfolio companies.
Exposure: Global portfolio-company operations and customers
Accounting
Judgemental itemsMost holdings are not publicly traded, so management estimates value using judgment, comparable multiples, and transaction data.
Impact: Can materially affect NAV, unrealized gains/losses, and per-share results
Interest is accrued only when collection is expected, and fees/OID are amortized into income over time.
Impact: Affects reported investment income and timing of earnings
Performance depends heavily on mark-to-market changes and sale proceeds relative to cost basis.
Impact: Can create large period-to-period swings in net assets from operations
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Last updated: 24/09/2026