Startup workers may get easier ways to cash out their shares early

Two firms want more startups to let employees sell some of their company stock before the company goes public or is sold. Carta, an equity platform, and NewView, an investment firm that specializes in these deals, have partnered to make the process simpler. These early sales are called tender offers.

What a tender offer is

Many startup workers get part of their pay as stock they cannot sell. Startups are staying private longer, so that stock can sit untouched for years. In a tender offer, employees, and often early investors, can sell a portion of their shares at a set price to an approved investor. It gives workers a way to cash out some value without waiting for a big exit.

What changed

The partnership pairs NewView's experience structuring these deals with Carta's equity platform. NewView founder Ravi Viswanathan says the goal is to help startups launch and manage these programs more smoothly. He hopes it makes CEOs more willing to consider them, and calls early liquidity a "win-win-win" for workers, companies and investors.

How common they are

Still not very. A study from NewView Capital and Carta found only 44 tender offers were completed in the first half of 2026. The same study projects that over three years, tender offers will triple for Series C and later-stage startups. Those are companies that have already raised several rounds of funding.

They are also no longer limited to the biggest names like OpenAI, Databricks or Anduril. Viswanathan says his firm led a tender last year for HighTouch, a marketing customization startup, at a $1.3 billion valuation when it was seven years old. Decagon, Wayve and ElevenLabs have also held tenders recently. ElevenLabs did two in less than a year.

Why companies might do it

Viswanathan calls tender offers strong retention tools and morale boosters. He says a decade ago, being a billion-dollar company was enough to attract talent, but that is less of a draw now. He argues companies stay private for 12 to 15 years and need to offer liquidity so talent does not drift to public companies.

What is not known yet

The material does not say what the program costs, how many companies have signed up, or how much stock employees could sell. Each company still decides whether to hold a tender offer at all.

What to do

• If part of your pay is startup stock, ask whether a tender offer is planned.
• Ask who can sell, how much, and at what price.
• Do not count on one happening, since they remain rare.