Vested is a three-month-old, Boston-based startup that helps startup employees know when and how to exercise their equity options. Its platform aggregates secondary buyers and loan providers and surfaces plainly explained tax guidance, industry competitive data and hard-to-find datasets such as public records, salary information and 409A valuations. Founders Matt Venables and Tom Hennessey built the product from personal experience selling shares on the secondary market and aim to convert option holders into shareholders. Vested has been backed with $1.2 million from UnderscoreVC and Boston Seed Capital. The company plans to earn finder’s fees from exchanges and lenders and to offer a low-cost subscription with features like push notifications and prioritized offers; it is also discussing non-recourse loan options for customers. The founders say they have already spoken to numerous secondary exchanges and position Vested as complementary to Carta, focusing 100% on employees.

Total raised

$1M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Sep 2019