Startup Share Sales Get Easier Through NewView and Carta Deal

NewView and Carta have joined forces to help startup workers sell some of their shares. The deal pairs NewView's secondary market experience with Carta's equity platform. The goal is to make it easier for companies to run share sales for staff and early investors. This type of sale, called a tender offer, lets people sell shares at a set price to an approved buyer. It is a way for employees to cash out some stock without waiting for a company to go public or get bought.

Startups are staying private for longer stretches of time. When a company does not go public, workers who get stock as part of their pay often cannot sell it. Many people wait years for a chance to turn that stock into cash. The new partnership is designed to address that delay. It aims to make it simpler for companies to set up and run these sales. Ravi Viswanathan, founder and managing partner of NewView, said the deal will help CEOs think about these sales. He called early liquidity a win for employees, companies, and investors.

The practice of these sales is growing for some firms. A study from NewView Capital and Carta shows that these offers among Series C and later-stage startups are on track to grow threefold over the past three years. Companies such as OpenAI, Databricks, and Anduril have run these sales. Hightouch, a marketing customization startup, held a sale last year at a $1.3 billion valuation. NewView led that transaction.

Despite the growth, the practice is not widespread. The same study found only 44 such offers took place in the first half of 2026. That is a small share of all startups. Viswanathan wants to see more companies do this. He said these sales can help keep good workers. He also said the old recruiting pitch does not work as well. He noted that a decade ago, reaching unicorn status was enough to attract talent. There are now many billion-dollar companies, so the label means less. A share sale, he said, is an opportunity to tell a worker they will also get liquidity in their journey with us.

Viswanathan does not expect the trend of long waits to end. He said companies are staying private for 12 to 15 years. He added that to stop talented workers from leaving for public firms, there must be liquidity for employees. Companies like Decagon, Wayve, and ElevenLabs have recently held these offers. ElevenLabs held two such sales in under a year.

The partnership between NewView and Carta is now in place. It is meant to provide a way for employees and early investors to get cash before an exit. The companies will work together to launch and run these programs. The goal is to make it easier for founders to offer early liquidity. This could change how people are recruited and how they are paid. The practice remains rare, but the partners want to change that.

The companies involved have not announced a specific date for when this will happen. There is no plan for a public listing or acquisition. The focus is on creating a path for employees to sell shares. This is a direct response to the long wait for a public offering. The partners believe this will help companies and workers. The future of these sales is still being decided. The trend is clear for some firms. The practice is not yet common.