New DealMaker Research: Two-Thirds of Americans Believe They're Deliberately Locked Out of the Highest-Growth Private Investments

• DealMaker’s findings show growing doubt that America’s wealth creation systems are built to serve everyone.
• More than half (51%) of Americans surveyed said the stock market was no longer the best place to build wealth in America.
• 60% said that when they think about building an investment portfolio, they feel like the cards are stacked against them.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New research published today by DealMaker, the leading investment technology platform that lets retail investors invest directly in private companies, and lets companies raise capital on their own terms, shows that 66% of Americans believe everyday people are being consciously held back from the country's highest-growth private investments. This research is based on a national survey of more than 2,000 adults, conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of DealMaker.

"Our new survey shows how many Americans have noticed that access to the best investment opportunities in America has quietly become a two-tiered system," said Rebecca Kacaba, co-founder and CEO of DealMaker. "Thanks to accredited investor rules and companies staying private longer, Americans are starting to lose confidence in the market, with a growing belief it’s not tailored for them to succeed. It’s driving a bigger retail movement toward investing in private companies, which we see swell with each passing year.”

The findings land as regulators weigh changes to who is allowed into private markets in the first place. More than half of respondents, 55%, said the accredited investor rules that restrict access to high-growth private deals based on income, net worth or professional credentials are not a fair way to allocate access — a view shared almost equally by Democrats (52%), Republicans (54%) and independents (56%).

Confidence in the system built to grow their wealth is cracking. More than half (51%) of people surveyed said that they felt that the stock market was no longer the best place to build wealth in America. Americans expressed a strong ambivalence toward the stock market, long a bedrock of wealth development across multiple generations, that borders on distrust. Sixty percent said that when they think about building an investment portfolio, they feel like the cards are stacked against them, and just 14% said they trust traditional financial institutions completely to manage their money and give good advice, a gap that leaves most Americans navigating wealth-building largely on their own.

Policymakers are already responding to a version of that gap. The House passed the bipartisan INVEST Act in December 2025, now before the Senate, directing the SEC to modernize the accredited investor definition with inflation-adjusted thresholds and new criteria based on education and experience.

People want in. But they just can't find the door. Americans are broadly aware that with swelling private market valuations and a surge in investment outside the public markets, there are investment options they’re missing out on. More than half of people surveyed (54%) said they'd be interested in investing in more private companies if given the chance. But while interest was strong, education and access was unclear for most people. Even after learning that retail investors can legally invest in private companies before an IPO, 71% said they still wouldn't know where to start looking for opportunities, and 64% weren't aware the option existed at all. This is all set up against a broader backdrop where nearly two-thirds of respondents (66%) said the country needs more options to access and manage different types of investments.

"People aren't walking away from private investing because they've decided it's not for them. They don't know it exists, and when they find out, they don't know how to get in," said Kacaba. "You don't fix that by asking Americans to trust a system most of them already believe is stacked against them. You fix it by opening the door: modernizing who's allowed in, and giving retail investors real, well-regulated access to the opportunities they've been asking for."

This survey was fielded between July 11-20, 2026 by Propeller Insights on behalf of DealMaker. This is the second research report of a planned three-part series from DealMaker, which follows its recent findings about American attitudes to AI wealth and thoughts on inequality. The findings arrive as DealMaker continues to push for retail investors to gain access to the kind of high-growth private opportunities that have historically been reserved for venture capitalists and accredited investors. This comes amidst a surge in demand for DealMaker’s end-to-end fundraising technology, with capital raised up 40% in the last 12 months, and the platform approaching $3 billion in total capital raised since it was founded. The survey results are available upon request, with a full report to be published on October 6.

About DealMaker

DealMaker is the leading investment technology platform built for companies raising capital directly from retail investors. Founded in 2018, DealMaker has helped its customers raise more than $2.8 billion in capital across more than 1,000 offerings from nearly two million investors in 63 countries. With a suite of tools spanning Regulation CF, Regulation A+, and other exempt offering structures, DealMaker helps issuers run compliant, high-converting campaigns and build lasting relationships with their investor communities. For more information, visit www.dealmaker.tech/.