Trax
- 🦄Became a unicornJul 2019
- 📈Peak valuation$2.25 Billion ’21
- 💔Became a UnitardDec 2023
- 💸Last valuation~$202M
The rise & fall
10 moments · 2010–2026The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
💬 entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
Trax, founded in 2010 by Joel Bar-El and Dror Feldheim, uses computer vision to track products on store shelves for consumer brands and retailers. Based in Singapore with research in Israel, it became a unicorn when a $100M round led by Hopu closed in July 2019, at $1.3B according to Reuters.
In April 2021 SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and BlackRock-managed funds led a $640M Series E, which Calcalist estimated valued Trax at about $2.25B. Trax shelved its IPO plans and cut staff in several rounds during 2022.
Mutual-fund filings show The Private Shares Fund marked its Trax common shares about 91% below their mid-2021 level by March 2026, and to zero by June. In February 2026 Trax sold its non-China image-recognition business to a Gemspring Capital affiliate for undisclosed terms.
Mutual-fund markdowns
8 funds · SEC NPORT-PHow U.S. mutual funds fair-value this still-private company in their quarterly SEC filings.
| Fund | Class | $/sh | From peak | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Science & Technology Trust | $0.00 | -100% | Mar 2026 | |
| BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust | $0.00 | -100% | Dec 2025 | |
| The Private Shares Fund | Common | $5.25 | -91% | Mar 2026 |
| The Private Shares Fund | $31.32 | -45% | Mar 2026 | |
| BlackRock Science & Technology Trust II | $26.14 | -45% | Mar 2023 | |
| BlackRock Science and Technology Trust II | $50.98 | -9% | Dec 2021 | |
| BlackRock Science and Technology Trust | $50.98 | -9% | Dec 2021 | |
| SharesPost 100 Fund | Common | $52.14 | +0% | Mar 2021 |
| BlackRock Science & Technology Term Trust | $0.00 | +0% | Mar 2026 | |
| SharesPost 100 Fund | $52.14 | — | Mar 2021 |
Source: SEC EDGAR Form NPORT-P (Level-3 fair-value marks). Per-share marks reflect the fund’s own valuation of a specific share class and aren’t a company-wide valuation. Last refreshed Oct 2026.
Source: Reuters via Euronews (July 22, 2019): $100M round led by Hopu at $1.3B per a source. TechCrunch (Apr 7, 2021): $640M Series E, primary and secondary, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and BlackRock-managed funds, valuation not disclosed. Calcalist (Apr 7, 2021): valuation estimated at about $2.25B, repeated in its June and Nov 2022 reports; Globes (via Global Venturing, Apr 8, 2021) reported $2B; Bloomberg sources said more than $3B. Peak keyed to Calcalist's $2.25B. SEC NPORT-P, The Private Shares Fund, Trax common (149,970 sh, constant): $57.35/sh (June 30, 2021), $49.62 (Sept 2023), $17.02 (Dec 2023), $11.31 (Dec 2025), $5.25 (Mar 31, 2026), $0 (June 30, 2026). dropPct 91 = 1 - 5.25/57.35, the last non-zero mark. BlackRock Science & Technology Trust (38,361 and 106,667 sh): $56.03 (June 2021), $16.75 (Sept 2025), about $0.00001 from Dec 2025. Calcalist (June 20 and Nov 22, 2022): layoffs of 100+ and 70-80, IPO plans shelved. Holland & Hart (Feb 27, 2026) and FORM/Trax release (Feb 4, 2026): non-China image-recognition business sold to a Gemspring Capital affiliate, terms not disclosed.
Founders
- Joel Bar-Elco-founder & CEO (2010–2020); executive chairman at peak
Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-10-22. See our methodology.
Disclosed investors (18)
Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.
* Lead in a funding round · Crunchbase ↗ · 2026-10-22 · Methodology · Leaderboard