← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Carta

“Can a cap table management platform become the financial operating system for all of private capital — connecting startups, fund managers, and investors through equity, compliance, and fund operations?”

Founded2012
HQSan Francisco, CA, USA
FoundersHenry Ward, Manu Kumar
Total raised$1.1B
Latest roundSeries G (or later)
Valuation$8.5B (reported 2021)
IndustryVertical SaaS / Legal & Equity Management
The story

Founded in 2012 as eShares to put paper stock certificates in the cloud, Carta evolved into the dominant cap table management platform for US private companies. By 2019 it had expanded into fund administration, serving venture capital and private equity. The company increasingly embedded legal and compliance services (Carta Law), and now operates as a multi-product private capital OS spanning cap tables, fund management, 409A valuations, liquidity programs, and investor AML/KYC — connecting startups, investors, and fund managers on one platform.

Last 12 months
2025-07
2026-03
2026-05
Product timeline
2012
Founded as eShares, Inc. to digitize paper stock certificates and cap tables for private companies.· pivot
2017
Rebranded from eShares to Carta; expanded beyond cap table management to include 409A valuations.· pivot
2019
Raised $300M Series E at $1.7B valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz; launched fund administration services.· banking
2021
Crossed $500M ARR milestone; expanded into fund ERP, deal CRM, and LP portfolio analytics for venture and private equity.· pivot
2023
Launched Carta Law (via Avantia Law Limited) offering AML/KYC compliance and fund legal services in the UK/EU.· acquisition
2024
Added Biometric KYC Verification for LP onboarding and integrated Plaid and Quiltt for financial data aggregation.· banking
2025
Migrated ACH subscription billing to Stripe; crossed $500M ARR.· banking
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Carta
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
5 layers disclosed in Carta’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Stripe
Money movement
in the full report
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Open banking
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
5 more providers across 4 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.