Toggle menu
Products
Equity Management
Fund Management
Equity Management
All Equity Management
From issuing early equity to IPO, build and scale your business on one platform
Cap Table Management
Issue, track, and process payments for your company's equity securely
409A Valuations
Enter audits with confidence with tailored, cost-effective valuations
SAFE Financings
Issue SAFEs, collect signatures, and move money securely on one platform
Financial Reporting
Generate your latest stock-based compensation reports in a few clicks
Equity Advisory
Empower your team with actionable tax and equity knowledge
Total Compensation
Get reliable salary and equity benchmarks
Liquidity
Execute secondary transactions that fully integrate with your cap table
QSBS Attestation
Optimize your equity tax benefit with the QSBS tax exemption
Launch
For early-stage founders to manage equity and build their cap table
Get started for free
Fund Management
All Fund Management
Leverage a suite of products and services to support your firm at every stage
Fund Administration
Automate your back office with solutions from scenario modeling to closings
Fund Formations
Form your fund, administer the first close, and execute capital calls in six weeks
Fund Tax
Unlock a seamless tax season with your fund accounting and taxes in one place
SPVs
Form, close, and administer your SPV in just a few clicks
Tactyc Forecasting & Planning
Guide your fund’s strategy with data-driven precision
ASC 820
Get audit-ready valuations for consistent financial reporting
Capital Call Line of Credit
Access capital outside your regular call cadence
Connect Ramp to Carta
New
Watch fund expenses flow seamlessly from card swipe to general ledger
Learn more
Solutions
BY BUSINESS TYPE
Private Corporations
Venture Capital
Private Equity
Private Credit
LLCs
BY INDUSTRY
Finance
HR
Healthcare
BY ROLE
Founder
Investor
Law Firm
Private Equity Solutions
The first unified software suite delivering precision and control
Learn more
Pricing
PRICING & PLANS
For Equity Management
Find the solutions you need to drive your business forward at any stage
View details
For Fund Management
Providing VCs with an automated back office to help them run funds of any size
View details
For Private Equity
Built for PE funds and portcos (LLC or C-Corp) to manage ownership
View details
Launch
For early-stage founders to manage equity and build their cap table
Get started for free
Resources
LEARN
Carta Classroom
Education
Data Desk
Blog
What's New in Product
Events & webinars
Case studies
COMMUNITY
Community
Training
PARTNERS
Partners
Accelerators
API Developer Platform
New
Startup Stack
SUPPORT
Contact support
Support articles
API documentation
Company
COMPANY
About us
Executive team
Policy Desk
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
PEOPLE
Life at Carta
Careers
Engineering
NEWS
Product release notes
Press
PE Executive Equity Report
Discover equity trends and benchmarks for PortCo leadership teams
Read the report
Sign In
Request a demo
Learn
/
Collections
/
Fund Formation
A comprehensive guide for emerging VCs didn't exist, so we built one.
Starting a VC firm is a complex process. Leverage our resources as you build your first fund.
Getting started
VC 101
Tools
Portfolio management
Structures
Fund management
Performance
Regulations
Taxes
Latest articles
Filters
Getting started
Author:
Rita Astoor
Date:
October 2023
featured article
How to start a venture capital firm
Learn how to launch your firm, how to start a VC fund, what it means to be the founding GP, and what investors expect of you in this role.
Investors
August 2022
Venture capital fund structures
Thinking of starting your own venture capital fund? Learn the legal vocabulary of VC fund structure, including LPs, GPs, LPAs, and LLCs.
View
Investors
January 2025
Fund management
Understand the key components of fund management for private equity and venture capital funds. We'll cover how fund management works throughout a fund's lifecycle—from capital allocation, risk management, portfolio company oversight, asset management, and fund administration.
View
Investors
September 2023
Investment thesis
An investment thesis clarifies how you’ll make money for your fund’s LPs. Learn how to write a great thesis so you can develop a winning fund strategy.
View
The Venture Playbook: Starting a fund
Learn the ins and outs of venture — from launching your firm to supporting your portfolio companies.
Download
VC 101 video course
VIDEO COURSE
Venture Capital 101
Learn the fundamentals of starting a venture capital fund.
VIDEO COURSE
VC regulations
Get familiar with the regulatory landscape by knowing its areas of focus, registration requirements, and exemptions.
VIDEO COURSE
Limited partnerships & management companies
Understand the limited partnership agreement (LPA) and the big role management companies play in VC.
VIDEO COURSE
Venture Capital 101
Learn the fundamentals of starting a venture capital fund.
VC regulations
Get familiar with the regulatory landscape by knowing its areas of focus, registration requirements, and exemptions.
Limited partnerships & management companies
Understand the limited partnership agreement (LPA) and the big role management companies play in VC.
Popular tools
LP pitch deck template
View tool
IRR calculator
View tool
VC regulatory playbook
View tool
Investor update template
View tool
Portfolio management
How to write an investment memo
What is a tear sheet?
How to write an investment thesis
What is a fund closing?
The venture capital regulatory playbook
Discover your end-to-end resource for understanding the basics in venture capital regulation.
Download
Fund structures
Venture capital fund structures overview
Limited partner (LP)
General partner (GP)
Limited partnership agreement (LPA)
Fund management
Author:
Rita Astoor
Date:
January 2025
featured article
Fund management
Understand the key components of fund management for private equity and venture capital funds. We'll cover how fund management works throughout a fund's lifecycle—from capital allocation, risk management, portfolio company oversight, asset management, and fund administration.
Investors
May 2025
Carried interest
In this article, you will learn about the purpose of carried interest and how it works within the private fund industry, including specific examples of how carried interest is taxed and how it differs from ordinary income.
View
Investors
July 2025
Capital calls
When fund managers are ready to invest in a private company, they usually have to make a capital call first. Learn more about capital calls in private equity and venture capital.
View
Investors
April 2025
ASC 820
Investment portfolio managers need accurate financial reports to help with decision-making and LP relations. That’s where ASC 820 comes in.
View
Learn more
Fund performance
How VCs measure fund performance
Sharing your track record as an emerging VC
Internal Rate of Return: How to calculate IRR
Regulations
Author:
Holli Heiles Pandol
Date:
December 2022
featured article
Venture capital regulations
The SEC regulates most aspects of venture capital funds and fund managers. Learn more about private fund regulation requirements to remain compliant.
Investors
June 2025
AML & KYC: Compliance guide
Learn how anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and know your customer (KYC) checks impact financial institutions, including private funds and companies. Discover compliance best practices and how Carta streamlines KYC for fund managers.
View
Equity Education
July 2025
Accredited investors
Learn what an accredited investor is, requirements and qualifications, why the requirement exists, and how the accredited investor rules may change.
View
Investors
August 2022
Regulation D
Regulation D outlines some of the rules private funds and companies can follow to raise money by selling securities without having to register.
View
Learn more
Taxes
Author:
The Carta Team
Date:
April 2025
featured article
Venture capital tax treatment
Learn about venture capital tax treatment—and what LPs expect from your fund during tax season.
Carta
June 2025
Schedule K-1 tax form
A Schedule K-1s is a key tax document used by LLCs and other pass-through entities. In this article, we cover important due dates, filing information, and what to include in a Schedule K-1 form.
View
Educational Essentials
August 2023
Qualified small business stock (QSBS)
Understand the qualified small business requirements and how to take advantage of QSBS tax treatment for eligible stock options.
View
Investors
May 2025
Carried interest
In this article, you will learn about the purpose of carried interest and how it works within the private fund industry, including specific examples of how carried interest is taxed and how it differs from ordinary income.
View
Latest articles
Policy Newsletter
July 2025
What's next for the SEC
Chairman Paul Atkins outlined key initiatives and principles he expects the commission to tackle, with IPOs and increased access to the private markets at the top of his agenda.
View
Equity Education
July 2025
Accredited investors
Learn what an accredited investor is, requirements and qualifications, why the requirement exists, and how the accredited investor rules may change.
View
Investors
July 2025
Capital calls
When fund managers are ready to invest in a private company, they usually have to make a capital call first. Learn more about capital calls in private equity and venture capital.
View
Founder Education
July 2025
Investor updates
Regular investor updates help to build trust between a company’s leadership team and its investors. Learn how to write an effective investor update.
View
article
July 2025
Family office: Definition, services, and investment strategies
Learn what a family office is, including the services it provides to support ultra-high-net-worth families. Understand the different investment strategies used by family offices.
View
Policy Newsletter
July 2025
QSBS: Protected, and expanded
Long and patient policy engagement pays off, as tax benefits open up for more investors and companies and R&D expensing turns more favorable for private capital markets as part of new budget bill.
View
Data & Research
July 2025
In the face of tariff-related ‘chaos,’ early-stage tech investors sound an optimistic note
The new global tariff policy by the U.S. and ongoing negotiations have begun to change the way that some early-stage investors are approaching deals. But the global machine of startup fundraising is still churning along.
View
Data & Research
July 2025
Five charts showing how AI is dominating the venture fundraising market
In 2024, companies in the AI space stunned the market by raising huge rounds at lofty valuations from some of the most prestigious investors. Some headline-grabbing rounds were raised mere weeks after launch.
View
Investors
June 2025
How to measure investment fund performance: VC & PE metrics explained
Learn how to measure investment fund performance. Explore key metrics for VC and PE funds—including IRR, MOIC, and ESG integration—for smarter investing.
View
View more