The scramble to get a piece of SpaceX before its highly anticipated IPO is heating up, and ERShares is making a big bet that retail investors want in early. On Thursday, the firm announced that its ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF (XOVR) added roughly $35 million in additional SpaceX exposure, bringing the fund's total position to about $281 million. That's around 23% of total assets under management as of Wednesday.

The timing is no coincidence. SpaceX filed for its IPO late Wednesday, and reports suggest it could start trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX as soon as June 12.

Investor hunger for private-market access has been growing as public AI and space stocks keep climbing, while high-profile private companies remain out of reach for most everyday investors. XOVR's strategy tries to bridge that gap by mixing public equities with private-company exposure inside an ETF wrapper.

ERShares also noted that its existing SpaceX position has already gained about $41 million in value over the past month, a sign of rising excitement around the company's satellite broadband, launch services, and AI-related infrastructure work.

SpaceX Is Becoming More Than a Space Trade

The latest allocation underscores how SpaceX is increasingly seen as an infrastructure platform rather than just an aerospace company. ERShares executives describe it as a "three-engine empire" spanning launch services, the Starlink satellite network, and future AI connectivity infrastructure. That view fits a broader shift in thematic investing, where people are looking beyond semiconductor stocks for second-order AI beneficiaries tied to data transmission, connectivity, and defense tech.

The firm holds its SpaceX exposure through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that charges zero management and performance fees at the SPV level. It's the same structure used by the Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA), the first pure-play space ETF, to gain access to SpaceX.

ETF Issuers Are Racing to Unlock Private Market Access

This announcement also highlights the push to democratize access to private markets. Historically, getting exposure to companies like SpaceX was reserved for venture capital firms, institutions, and the ultra-wealthy. Crossover ETFs are now trying to package those opportunities for retail investors through regulated fund structures.

ERShares says XOVR was the first crossover ETF to include private-equity exposure. The fund's broader investment approach uses venture-capital-style screening for both private and public companies, a strategy the firm says previously spotted names like Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, and Meta early in their growth cycles.