Rethinking the SPV landscape
The flexibility of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) has made them the Swiss Army knife of the venture industry. They can help VCs build a track record, make follow-on investments, offer co-investment opportunities, exercise pro-rata rights, prevent thesis creep, pool liquidity for secondary transactions, and so much more.
We’re seeing this growth reflected on our platform – over 30 percent of the 1000+ VC funds administered by Carta also have an SPV on Carta. For these firms, SPVs play a large role in their strategy, with an average of five SPVs per firm.
Yet, despite the tremendous growth of SPVs, VCs have had to choose between two imperfect alternatives:
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The “DIY SPV”: Assemble a hodgepodge of service providers to handle legal, tax, admin, reporting, and LP management. These costs can pile up quickly and the constant back-and-forth leads to a disjointed and error-prone process.
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The “SPV in a box”: Work with a budget SPV platform and accept that the SPV will have no ongoing service team, no financial reporting, no annual tax filings, no performance tracking, and no ultimate control for the organizer of the SPV.
Both of these outdated alternatives lead to a frustrating experience, unnecessary costs, missed deals, and dissatisfied LPs.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.You can have the best of both worlds – a single technology platform, paired with a top-notch services team.
Announcing Carta SPV
We’re excited to announce Carta SPV, the first end-to-end platform built specifically for professional investors. We make it simple and quick to form, close, and administer SPVs – all in one place.
Carta automates your SPV from start to finish. Map the terms of your SPV directly to Carta’s proprietary general ledger. Send your LPs digital subscription documents on Carta. Kick off capital calls automatically. Generate GAAP financial reports with a few clicks.
With Carta SPV, you’ll be able to:
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Save time and eliminate costly back-and-forth:Customize and send your legal docs in-app. Carta forms the entity, secures a registered agent, and obtains a tax ID.
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Manage your SPV end-to-end:Call capital, administer your fund, and perform distributions with Carta. Work with our experienced team and tax partners to manage accounting and taxes in-app.
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Deliver a better LP experience: Manage your LPs with our robust platform. LPs can sign subscription documents and track their investments.
Spend less time administering, more time investing
At Carta, we’re on a mission to fix fund administration by combining professional services with powerful technology. With the launch of Carta SPV, we will be the first full-service fund administrator to build an integrated formations offering. This is the next step on our path to creating the world’s most powerful operating system for funds and SPVs.
Interested? Get in touch with our team to spin up your Carta SPV today.
(1) Carta’s legal documents are provided for your reference only and are not intended to serve as legal advice. We recommend that you consult an attorney licensed in the relevant jurisdiction as well as tax and financial professionals before finalizing your legal documents.
(2) Banking services are provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.
(3) Tax services are provided by Withum Smith+Brown, PC.
This communication is on behalf of Carta Investor Services, Inc. (“Carta”), an affiliate of eShares Inc., d/b/a Carta, Inc. (“Carta, Inc.”), and is not to be construed as legal, financial, accounting or tax advice; it is for informational purposes only. This communication is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Neither Carta nor Carta, Inc. assumes any liability for reliance on the information provided herein.