Founder Ownership Trends 2024: Insights from Carta’s First Report

Carta’s very first Founder Ownership Report is now available. Using anonymized private market data from more than 45,000 startups, it unveils fresh insights on team composition, equity division, and the impact of early fundraising rounds on ownership stake.

Key takeaways include: ‌

Solo founders are stepping up (but raising less): The percentage of startups led by one founder has steadily grown, reaching 35% in 2024. However, of all new startups that raised capital last year, only 17% were solo-founded. ‌

Equal equity splits are growing more common: More co-founders are opting for an even split. In 2024, 45.9% of two-person founder teams divided equity equally, compared to 31.5% in 2015. ‌

Founder ownership declines most at early stages: After raising a seed round, the median founding team collectively owns 56.2% of their startup’s equity. That figure drops to 36.1% at Series A and 23% at Series B

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