Founder Education

Carta Launch: Free startup tools for early-stage founders

August 16, 2021
The Carta Team

 For founders, the early days are full of unforgettable moments—like designing the perfect logo, closing that first dollar of revenue, realizing your domain name is available, and getting that first hire to say “yes, when can I start?”

We want to help you spend more time building and celebrating these unforgettable moments, and less time worrying if you are fundraising or managing your equity the right way. That’s why we built Carta Launch, a free platform with startup tools for early-stage founders. 

What can you do with Carta Launch? 

Run an informed fundraising process using fundraising benchmarks and scenario modeling.  

Fifty-five percent of all venture capital flowed through a Carta cap table in Q1 2021. Use that data to understand market caps, valuations, and specific terms before you meet with investors. Access it in real time to run a more informed fundraising and negotiation process. Model your round and understand the potential future impact and dilution before you raise. Avoid undervaluing and over-diluting your company. Don’t leave money on the table. 

“Carta helps us benchmark the valuation we’re thinking of against actual deals happening in the market. It’s crazy helpful, and will likely help us save millions of dollars that we may lose without that context. Every entrepreneur should be using this.”—Conner Wilson, Founder/CEO, Pilot

Close your round quickly using automated SAFEs. 

SAFEs usually involve a lot of email back and forth with investors. Use our automated SAFEs feature to generate and track your SAFEs all in one place, streamline communication with investors, and automate the signing process. It also automatically updates your cap table. Save time for yourself and your investors. 

“I have made about 25 direct investments, and the easiest to get done from commitment to wired are the companies using Carta’s SAFE generator.Signed, wired, and received my stock certificate in minutes.Can take days or weeks via other options. So well done!” —Andrew Gluck, general partner, irrvrntVC

Instantly issue equity to your team members, and make it easy for them to accept it. 

No matter whether you have 40 employees or just one, every founder needs to be able to issue and manage equity—and employees need to be able to easily access it and know its value. We get you started on the world’s best cap table software for free.

“I love being able to see my options vest on the Carta mobile app each month. Being able to log in and keep track of my ownership is a reminder of why I joined my company and what I’m working towards.” Aileen Comer, senior product manager, Clearcover 

[Coming soon] Make competitive job offers. 

Soon, Launch will include access to substantial savings on the Carta Total Comp tool, as well. No more polling Twitter or your favorite Slack community to figure out what other founders offered their employees. We support more than 21,000 companies across the Carta ecosystem. Use our pool of real-time equity compensation data to determine how much equity and salary to offer a new hire. Be confident that you’re paying your people well from the start.  

“Competitive compensation is a moving target. Carta Total Comp helps make sure our salary and equity compensation is best in class relative to the ever-changing market.” —Charles Harrison, COO and general counsel, Synthesis

It’s your company. Own it with Carta Launch.

This is just the beginning. We’re building Launch alongside the thousands of startups that have already started using it, and we’re hard at work iterating to make the platform as efficient and useful as possible. Our product team just redesigned our onboarding flow so that you can get started by yourself instead of having to wait for a demo or for your law firm to sign you up.

You’re building your company at the perfect time. We are in a remarkably capital-rich environment. In 2021, an average of 25 rounds are being raised per day on Carta, compared to 20 last year. And founders are raising more capital at earlier stages—fundraising is up by 61% in the seed stage over the last five years.

We want founders to be prepared to capitalize on this moment. We’re here to help you raise and to use this influx of capital to grow your business.

You might just have the seed of an idea. Or a few family members who’ve invested. You might not have an accelerator or a network or investors to lean on. You might not even consider yourself a founder—but you are! And you deserve access to the resources you need to bring your idea to life. 

You might have sketched your idea on a napkin last night or closed your first customer last week. Or you may be hustling to overcome a lost deal or a rejection email from an accelerator. Regardless of where you are in your journey, you deserve access to the resources you need to build the next big thing.

Carta Launch is available to early-stage founders with 25 or fewer stakeholders and less than $1M of total capital raised. If you’re ready to get started, it’s never been easier to self-onboard or have your law firm do it for you. And if you’re interested in staying connected and hearing about new features as they are released, follow Carta on Twitter and explore our Founder Resource Center

 

OFFER TERMS AND CONDITIONS: This offer is valid only for new customers of eShares, Inc. dba Carta, Inc. (“Carta”), and cannot be used for any subscriptions previously entered into. Carta Launch Plan Terms and Conditions also apply to qualifying subscriptions (see https://carta.com/legal/agreements/launch/), and subscriptions and feature availability may vary depending on, without limitation, the jurisdiction in which the customer is formed, incorporated or organized. Carta reserves the right to change or terminate this offer at its sole discretion. Offer may not be used or combined with other coupons, promotions, or special offers. The offer will be deemed fully redeemed once a qualifying subscription has been made. The offer has no cash value and no refunds or cash alternatives will be offered. Offer not available in all countries, and is void where prohibited by law. The offer only has value when redeemed in accordance with all terms and conditions of the offer.

DISCLOSURE: This communication is on behalf of eShares Inc., d/b/a Carta Inc. (“Carta”).  This communication is for informational purposes only, and contains general information only.  Carta is not, by means of this communication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services.  This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests.  Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business or interests, you should consult a qualified professional advisor.  This communication is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Carta does not assume any liability for reliance on the information provided herein. All company and product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners in the U.S. and other countries, and are used for identification purposes only. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply affiliation or endorsement. ©2021 eShares Inc., d/b/a Carta Inc. (“Carta”). All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.