Carta

Carta 🤝 Sikich, a global leader in technology-enabled professional services with 15,000 clients and 1,900 employees. After an investment from Bain Capital, the Chicago-based firm expanded its equity program—aiming to grow ownership from 5% to an ambitious 30% of its workforce. For Director Pedro Diaz de Leon and the Sikich leadership team, equity isn't just about financial incentives; it’s a strategy to reshape professional services and accounting into careers where employees can access ownership earlier. How Carta supported Sikich: ✅ Sikich selected Carta for its ease of use and flexibility in managing complex equity structures across multiple cap tables. ✅ Carta’s platform empowers employees to track vesting schedules, sign documents, and access tax info—all in one place. ✅ With hands-on support from Carta’s team, Sikich implemented and issued equity in just one month, keeping their timeline on track. The result:
Sikich is setting a new standard in talent retention by fostering an ownership culture while positioning itself as a leader in progressive talent management. As Diaz de Leon put it:
“Carta helps us empower and reward employees effortlessly. This is just the start of something great for Sikich.” #EmployeeOwnership #TalentStrategy #EquityManagement 🔗 Full story at the link in comments below.

Our 2024 annual equity report is here. This report examines how opportunities to found companies, raise venture funding, and work at startups are distributed according to race and gender. Data from 2024 show clear gaps in equity, diversity, and funding. Some highlights: ❇️ Median pre-money valuations have been consistently higher for startups with male CEOs compared to those led by women at every stage from seed to Series C over the past two years. ❇️ Women-only founding teams increased their share of all funding raised in 2024. At Series C and beyond, startups led by women-only teams brought in 5.9% of all capital raised in 2024, a huge jump from previous years. ❇️ 45.5% of founders on Carta in 2024 came from non-white backgrounds—the highest it’s ever been. ❇️ Startups founded in the last three years are showing more equitable representation in leadership teams, with a higher percentage of women and non-white leaders compared to older firms. While there are some positive trends, overall, this report sheds light on the critical work still needed to create a more equitable VC and startup environment. Catch all the insights in the full report out now: https://lnkd.in/gEaeNZFR #VentureCapital #StartupEquity #CartaData #StartupFundraising

💡 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱! AI salaries are skyrocketing, and the demand for top talent is reshaping the hiring landscape. What’s driving the surge—and how can you stay ahead? Get the inside scoop on what skills matter, why equity grants dropped 35%, how location-based pay gaps narrowed, and why a new comp strategy is essential in today’s AI job market. 👉 Full insights in this new report from SignalFire and Carta: https://lnkd.in/g-zzY35N #AITalent #TechCareers #SalaryTrends #Hiring #EngineeringJobs

Potentially ripe for investment: Healthcare AI specifically for early-stage disease detection. Aditi Maliwal of Upfront Ventures talks about this positive use of AI on a recent episode of The Data Minute with Peter Walker. In this episode, Aditi and Peter discuss seed and Series A dynamics across the US and how to determine which companies are worth investing in. They also touch on the importance of grit, both in an investor portfolio and as a founder trait, and, of course, Peter challenges Aditi to a speed round of questions. 🎧 Listen to The Data Minute on your favorite podcast platform. #DataMinute #CartaData #podcast #AI #Healthcare

🏇 What a ride! Team Carta galloped into the prestigious Ambassadeur Cup at the La Ensenada polo club in Buenos Aires. This international dream team, Nuestra Tierra—Marion Canovaggio (France/USA), Sebastian Sorbac (France), Gonzalo Moretti (Argentina), and Marek Setkiewicz (Poland)—played their hearts out, making it all the way to the finale 💪 Beyond the game, this tournament offered unforgettable memories and amazing new connections in the heart of Argentina's polo season 🐎 #Laensenadapolo #prensapolofriends #poloseason #temporadaargentina

As equity compensation becomes an increasingly significant part of total rewards in private equity portfolios, understanding how equity works is essential for employees. Introducing: Equity 101 for Employees of PE-Backed Companies designed specifically for employees of private equity-backed companies. This free guide provides clear, actionable insights to help employees navigate their equity benefits with confidence, whether they’re new to equity or looking to deepen their knowledge. What’s inside:
 📘 Equity basics: Fundamentals of equity compensation and how it works 📘 Types of equity awards: Explanations of stock options, restricted stock, Profits Interest Units, and phantom equity 📘 Tax implications: Insights into tax treatment to help employees make informed decisions 📘 Vesting schedules & exit events: Guidance on aligning financial goals with company growth and exit strategies Download this free guide: https://lnkd.in/gqUhPVgY

Audit season is approaching. VC firms, hedge funds, and private equity firms are all required to assess the value of their investments annually.

 So, do you know the value of your fund’s assets?

 If not, you may need an ASC 820 valuation—a requirement of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Without this crucial documentation, you might face a difficult or delayed audit. We break it all down for you in this virtual event (l i n k in comments). Hear from audit partners, Michelle Keyes of Withum and Sindhu Rajesh of Weaver hosted by Chad Willbur from the Carta valuations team. Topics include: ⏩️ Recent market shifts impacting venture fund valuations ⏩️ Valuation methodologies and practices from leading audit firms ⏩️ What auditors prioritize when scrutinizing your fund valuations ⏩️ The recommended frequency for updating valuations ⏩️ The best resources available to guide you through the intricacies of approaching your valuation methodology #FundAudit #AuditSeason #ASC820

Tax policies and regulations change, but our fund admin team makes sure our clients, audit teams, and legal partners are always in the loop. That keeps everyone on the same page, so nothing falls through the cracks.  #RegulatoryCompliance #FundAdmin #ClientSupport

2024 has been a banner year for Carta fund admin. We launched dozens of new features and service enhancements. Automated money movement, CTA BOIR, the LP Dashboard ... oh, and ICYMI, we acquired Tactyc which lets you build sophisticated fund models in minutes, using real benchmark data.

 Join Carta CEO Henry Ward, Tactyc founder, Anubhav Srivastava, head of fund administration, Megan Greer, and CPO Vrushali Paunikar, as they recap our most innovative releases and preview the roadmap ahead. Here’s what you can expect:
 🪄 Product vision: Discover our blueprint for building the first ERP designed for the private fund CFO  🎁 What’s new: Understand how to leverage our most impactful 2024 releases, including our newly acquired forecasting and planning tool, Tactyc  🗺️ Product roadmap: Get a preview into our 2025 roadmap and what we’re building next (hint: if you’re a Ramp customer, don’t miss this part 👀) You’ll also have the chance to interact with our leadership team and get your questions answered live. So head to this link and we’ll see you there: https://lnkd.in/gJuA9YMP

Today, Carta CEO and co-founder Henry Ward testified before the House Financial Services Committee emphasizing the pivotal role private capital plays in powering America’s innovation and economic growth.  Henry talked about the importance of strengthening and broadening the private capital ecosystem to ensure it benefits more investors, entrepreneurs, and communities. He shared how private capital fueled Carta’s own journey—from an idea rejected 60 times by VCs to a platform supporting over 40,000 companies and managing $2.5 trillion in equity.  We’re asking policymakers to:   ✅ Expand investor access to private markets   ✅ Empower emerging fund managers who invest early and locally  ✅ Modernize regulatory frameworks to reflect the needs of today’s ecosystem  As Henry shared, private capital isn’t just for Wall Street—it’s the engine that drives job creation, technological innovation, and economic opportunity nationwide.  We’re proud to advocate for policies that strengthen private markets and broaden their impact. Together, we can build a stronger, more inclusive ownership economy. #PrivateCapital #InnovationEconomy #Policy #InvestorAccess #EquityforAll #Entrepreneurship