Carta and NewView Target Startup Stock Liquidity With Easier Tender Offers
Carta and NewView unite equity software and secondary deal expertise to streamline startup tenders as employees wait 12 to 15 years for liquidity options.
Summary
As of October 23, 2026, Carta and NewView Capital are partnering to simplify startup tender offers by combining Carta’s equity platform with NewView’s secondary deal-structuring expertise. Tenders let employees, and often early investors, sell part of their stock at a predetermined price to an approved investor. NewView founder and managing partner Ravi Viswanathan says easier liquidity programs can improve retention and morale while benefiting workers, companies and investors.
A NewView Capital and Carta study projects tender offers will increase threefold among Series C and later startups over the three-year period studied, although only 44 were executed in the first half of 2026. NewView, which handles secondary deals and traditional venture investments, led a 2025 tender for seven-year-old marketing customization startup Hightouch at a $1.3 billion valuation. Recent participants include Decagon, Wayve and ElevenLabs, which completed two tenders in less than a year, while OpenAI, Databricks and Anduril show the practice is established among major private companies. Viswanathan argues that billion-dollar status alone no longer attracts talent and that employees need liquidity as startups remain private for 12 to 15 years, or venture-backed companies risk losing workers to public rivals.
Positives
- Carta and NewView Capital are combining equity software with secondary deal expertise to simplify tender offers.
- Series C and later-stage startup tenders are projected to increase threefold over the three-year period studied.
- Hightouch secured a 2025 tender at a $1.3 billion valuation when the startup was seven years old.
- ElevenLabs completed two tender offers in less than one year.
- Tender offers can improve employee retention and morale while providing liquidity to workers and early investors.
Risks & concerns
- Only 44 startup tender offers were executed in the first half of 2026 despite growing interest.
- Employees may wait 12 to 15 years for liquidity as startups remain private longer.
- Stock-based compensation can leave startup employees holding shares they cannot readily sell.
- Billion-dollar valuations have become less distinctive as recruiting tools because unicorns are more common.
- Limited tender adoption could push talent from venture-backed startups toward publicly traded competitors.