NewView and Carta Integrate Platforms to Speed Up Employee Stock Sales

NewView and Carta announced a partnership on October 23 to simplify the process for private companies to offer liquidity to their employees. The collaboration combines NewView's experience in structuring secondary transactions with Carta's equity management platform. The goal is to make it easier for startup leaders to launch and execute tender offers, allowing staff to sell a portion of their shares before a public listing or acquisition.

Ravi Viswanathan, founder and managing partner of NewView, stated that the integration is designed to streamline liquidity programs for companies. "The hope is that this partnership will make it easier for CEOs and companies to think about tenders," he said. He described early liquidity as a "win-win-win" scenario that benefits employees, the company, and investors.

A recent study by NewView Capital and Carta indicates that tender offers among Series C and later-stage startups are projected to have grown threefold over the past three years. Viswanathan noted that this practice is no longer restricted to the most valuable private firms. He cited Hightouch, a marketing customization startup, as an example. Last year, NewView led a tender offer for the seven-year-old company at a $1.3 billion valuation.

Despite the growth, the practice remains limited in scope. The same research found that only 44 tender offers were executed in the first half of 2026. Viswanathan characterized these offers as strong retention tools and morale boosters. He argued that the standard recruiting pitch of reaching unicorn status has lost some of its force because the number of billion-dollar companies has increased.

Recent examples of companies holding such offers include Decagon, an AI customer support startup, and Wayve, a self-driving technology developer. ElevenLabs, an AI voice generator, carried out two offerings in under a year. Viswanathan said, "is an opportunity to say you will also get liquidity in your journey with us," referring to the value of tenders for talent retention.

Viswanathan said the trend of companies remaining private for extended periods is unlikely to reverse. "The companies are staying private for 12 to 15 years. That's not changing," he said. To prevent a talent drain from venture-backed startups to public companies, he added, "we need to make sure that there is liquidity for the employees."