Article · Report

2026 Founder Ownership Report

Carta · carta.com Free Intermediate

Carta's March 2026 data on how founders' ownership falls through each round and how teams split equity: the median founding team holds about 56% after seed and 36% after Series A, and even splits are rising.

  • Median founder ownership falls to 36% by Series A.
  • Even splits rose to 27.3% of three-founder teams in 2025.
  • 36% of startups that raised on Carta had two founders.
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It answers 2 questions

  1. What is Series A funding, and what do investors expect at that stage?
  2. How should co-founders split equity fairly?

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