CSCarta Series D Financial Model
Fintech Startup Financials (Free Excel Download)
Carta (formerly eShares) is a SaaS platform that digitizes cap table management, equity issuance, and ownership tracking for private companies, venture firms, and limited partners.
professionals from Deloitte
Used by professionals from
About this model
Carta digitises cap-table administration, equity issuance, and ownership records for private companies, venture funds, and limited partners. Its platform turns historically manual legal and finance workflows into subscription software with a system-of-record position.
At the Series D stage, Carta reported ARR as its primary metric and had built products beyond its original issuer cap-table base. The company’s expansion opportunity comes from serving more stakeholders across private-market ownership and fund administration.
The model should use a multi-segment SaaS ARR build: subscription customers, new-logo ACV, expansion ARR, churn, and implementation costs. Separating core company subscriptions from newer fund or LP products makes customer mix, sales efficiency, and gross-margin progression visible.
A turnkey financial model
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
About Carta Series D
https:
How to build a detailed financial model for Carta Series D
A complete walkthrough of the business, drivers, and assumptions behind the downloadable Carta Series D model - distilled from its pitch deck and publicly available information.
Product & value proposition
- Central registry of private asset ownership: shares, options, warrants, debt, membership units
- Electronic issuance of securities (shares, options, debt, derivatives) with tracking of ownership, restrictions, and shareholder info
- Automates approval and compliance workflows for new issues, transfers, and settlement
- Cap table management dashboard: tracks all issuer liabilities with historical view
- Shareholder portfolio view: tracks all owner assets across companies
- Network effect strategy: VC firms are the first network; LPs (fund membership units) are the second, larger network
- Revenue expansion path: sell software and financial products into each node - Companies → Venture Firms → Limited Partners → PE → All Private Companies → Public Companies → Transfer Agents → Employee Equity Brokerages → Real Estate → Other Privately Held Assets
- Vision: "ownership as simple as payroll" - extend to gig workers and non-employee stakeholders (Uber drivers, Airbnb hosts cited as illustrative examples, not customers)
- Positioning: utility / financial infrastructure ("financial cables") built to endure for a century
Revenue model
- Primary: SaaS subscription fees from companies (issuers) - referred to as "subscription customers"
- ARR is the primary revenue KPI; $50M ARR at time of deck
- Two visible stacked revenue segments in ARR chart (blue = existing/core, green = newer/expansion segment - likely venture fund / LP product layer)
- CAC definition in deck: Sales & Marketing spend (fully loaded) + Net implementation cost (fully loaded), divided by new subscription customers
- Average ARR per new customer = ARR per new subscription customer × Subscription gross margin
- Financial products sold into network nodes (slide 11 references "financial products" alongside software)
- No per-seat, per-transaction, or specific tier pricing disclosed
Traction & metrics
- ARR: $50M
- Subscription customers: ~10,000
- Shareholders on platform: ~700,000
- Employees: 450
- Offices: 7
- Founded: 2012
- ARR trajectory (from chart, Q1-16 through Q4-18E): started near ~$2M in Q1-16, reaching ~$50M in Q3-18 actual and ~$48–50M in Q4-18E
- ARR approximate quarterly readings (visual interpolation from chart):
- Q1-16: ~$2M | Q2-16: ~$3M | Q3-16: ~$5M | Q4-16: ~$7M
- Q1-17: ~$10M | Q2-17: ~$13M | Q3-17: ~$18M | Q4-17: ~$27M
- Q1-18: ~$28M | Q2-18: ~$35M | Q3-18: ~$42M | Q4-18E: ~$48–50M
- Subscription customers trajectory (Q1-16 through Q4-18E):
- Q1-16: ~1.5K | Q2-16: ~2.2K | Q3-16: ~3.3K | Q4-16: ~4.0K
- Q1-17: ~4.5K | Q2-17: ~5.2K | Q3-17: ~6.0K | Q4-17: ~7.0K
- Q1-18: ~7.5K | Q2-18: ~8.5K | Q3-18: ~9.2K | Q4-18E: ~10K
- Shareholders trajectory: started well below 100K in Q1-16; reached 700K by Q4-18
Unit economics
- Payback period (months) - verbatim data points from chart:
- Q1-17: 14.3 | Q2-17: 11.5 | Q3-17: 12.1 | Q4-17: 11.4
- Q1-18: 21.1 | Q2-18: 18.2 | Q3-18: 21.1 | Q4-18E: 19.4
- Payback period lengthened significantly in 2018 vs 2017 (from ~11–14 months to ~18–21 months), suggesting rising CAC relative to new ARR per customer (likely from moving up-market or expanding S&M spend ahead of Series D)
- CAC definition: fully loaded S&M + net implementation cost per new subscription customer
- Average ARR per new customer = new customer ARR × subscription gross margin
- Gross margin %: referenced conceptually (subscription gross margin in payback formula) but no specific % disclosed
Competition / moat
- Moat articulated as network effects: fractional ownership industries have strong network effects
- Layer 1 (companies): VC firms connect companies to employees (equity holders)
- Layer 2 (funds): LPs connect across VCs, companies, banks - "larger and more valuable network effect"
- Utility / infrastructure positioning: "financial cables" - switching cost argument, designed for century-long durability
- No named competitors in deck
- Problem framing: private assets are priced at $20K minimums vs public assets at ~$7 (illustrative comparison); private market illiquidity / opacity is the pain point
Recommended financial model
- Archetype + why: SaaS ARR subscription model with multi-segment revenue build. Carta is a pure SaaS business with clean ARR, subscription customer count, and payback period data. The two-stack visual in the ARR and customer charts (blue = core cap table subscription; green = likely fund/LP product layer) calls for a two-segment revenue build. A 3-statement model is not warranted at this stage; a subscription ARR model with unit economics is the right vehicle.
- Forecast horizon & granularity: Quarterly actuals Q1-16 through Q3-18 (populate from deck data); Q4-18E per deck; then annual forecast FY2019–FY2022. Granularity: quarterly for near-term (2019), annual thereafter.
- Key drivers & assumptions:
| Driver | Value / Tag |
|---|---|
| ARR at model start (Q3-18 actual) | $42M |
| Subscription customers (Q4-18E) | ~10,000 |
| Implied ACV per customer (ARR / customers) | $50M / 10K = $5,000 |
| ARR YoY growth rate - FY2019 | ~50% (extrapolating from Q4-17 ~$27M to Q4-18E ~$50M = ~85% 2018 growth; deceleration expected post-Series D scale) |
| ARR YoY growth rate - FY2020–2022 | 40% / 35% / 30% declining ladder - typical SaaS deceleration at $50M+ scale |
| Net new subscription customers per quarter | ~500–700/qtr in 2019, growing ~15% annually, consistent with recent ~750/qtr adds |
| ACV growth (price × mix) | 5% annual increase - modest ARPU expansion as company moves up-market (consistent with rising payback period) |
| Subscription gross margin | 65–70% - typical B2B SaaS at this scale; used in Carta's own payback definition |
| CAC (fully loaded, per new customer) | ~$9,000–10,000 in FY2019, based on ~19–21 month payback × ~$5K ACV × ~65% gross margin |
| Payback period | 19–21 months; improving to ~18 months by FY2021 as S&M leverage improves |
| Shareholders per subscription customer | ~70 (700K shareholders / 10K customers); grows as larger companies adopt |
| S&M as % of revenue | ~40–45% in FY2019 (consistent with 19-month payback at 65% GMs) |
| R&D as % of revenue | 25–30% (typical early-scale SaaS) |
| G&A as % of revenue | 10–15% |
| Operating loss / EBITDA margin | 30% to -40% in FY2019, improving toward breakeven by FY2022 |
| Headcount | 450 employees at deck date; growing ~20% annually |
| Revenue from financial products (non-subscription) | immaterial / zero in near term - not quantified in deck |
- Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
- Base: ARR growth 50%/40%/35%/30%, payback ~19 months, gross margin 67%
- Bull: ARR growth 65%/55%/45%/35% (LP/fund product accelerates, faster enterprise move-up); payback compresses to ~14 months by FY2021; gross margin 72%
- Bear: ARR growth 35%/25%/20%/18% (market slowdown, longer sales cycles); payback stays 20+ months; gross margin 63% (higher implementation costs)
- Flex variables: net new customer adds, ACV, S&M efficiency (payback period), gross margin
- Required sheets / outputs:
- Assumptions - all drivers, toggleable Base/Bull/Bear
- ARR Bridge - quarterly: opening ARR + new ARR + expansion ARR - churned ARR = closing ARR (by segment: core cap table, fund/LP)
- Customers - new adds, churn, ending count; ACV per cohort
- Unit Economics - CAC, avg new ARR per customer, payback period (replicate deck chart; validate against actuals)
- P&L (Income Statement) - Revenue (ARR converted to recognized revenue), COGS, Gross Profit, S&M, R&D, G&A, EBITDA, Net Income
- Headcount & Opex detail - employees by function, cost per head
- KPI Dashboard - ARR, customers, ACV, gross margin %, payback, YoY growth (mirror deck charts)
- Scenarios tab - side-by-side Base / Bull / Bear on key outputs
Frequently asked
Is the Carta Series D financial model free?+
Yes. The Carta Series D model is a free Excel (.xlsx) download with live formulas. Sign up with your email and the workbook is yours to keep, review, and edit.
What's included in the model?+
A 5-year monthly forecast with P&L, cash flow and runway, valuation (exit multiple plus a DCF cross-check), MOIC/IRR returns, and unit economics, with live formulas throughout.
How was this model built?+
It was built from Carta Series D's pitch deck and publicly available information, then structured to investment-banking standards as a fully editable Excel model.
Can I change the assumptions?+
Yes. You can change assumptions and the live formulas will recalculate in the downloadable Excel model.
Have more financial modelling questions? Contact us
Created by ex-finance professionals
Hey, I’m Alex and I created Finamodel.
Over my years in the finance industry I kept building the same models over and over again. Same structure, same assumptions, different logo. So I started building frameworks to turn them into clean, reusable templates.
Every model here is one I’d actually use for a client, and I personally vet each one before it goes up.
I’m not an expert in every industry, but I’ve built enough models to know what belongs in one. And when something is completely foreign to me, I reach out to my network for experts to work on our models with us.
Having a template library on hand cuts a first build from hours to minutes.
Need help finding your model? You’ll find me in the Finamodel app!
Other Fintech Startup Financial Models
Browse another startup in the same category.
Acin
SaaS and data subscription network for operational risk management at Tier 1 financial institutions
Ageras Group
B2B SME ecosystem - marketplace connecting SMEs with accountants + cloud accounting/payroll software + embedded financial services (lending, factoring, banking)
Airbase
Unified non-payroll spend management platform (corporate cards, AP/bill pay, expense reimbursement, approval workflows) for mid-market companies.
Altruist
Vertically integrated all-in-one platform for registered investment advisors (RIAs) - combining custodial, portfolio management, practice management, and client acquisition tools.
Amenitiz
All-in-one hotel management SaaS platform ("Shopify for hotels") for independent hoteliers - PMS, booking engine, channel manager, website builder, payments, and AI-driven revenue management.
Anrok
SaaS sales tax compliance platform - nexus monitoring, calculation, registration, filing, and remittance - built specifically for SaaS companies.
Arrival
Arrival is an EV manufacturer of commercial vans and buses using proprietary Microfactories and vertically integrated components, going public via SPAC merger with CIIG Merger Corp.
AtoB
AtoB is building financial infrastructure for commercial fleets, starting with a no-fee Visa fleet card for fuel and expanding into payroll, BNPL, and international.
