Eqvista Blog

Founders’ guides to equity, valuations, and company growth.

Meet Eqvista’s Tiger Team: The Group Behind Our Most Complex Valuations

At Eqvista, precision is everything. Some valuation cases demand more than technical skill; they call for judgment, experience, and the ability to deliver under pressure. That level of work belongs to Eqvista’s Tiger Team, a specialized group that handles the firm’s most advanced, complex, and time-sensitive assignments. Led by Patrick Wong, with Kayla Chen and …

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How to Start a Venture Capital Firm in 2026: A complete Guide

For most of its history, venture capital has been an industry where the price of admission was experienced. But that gatekeeping dynamic is quietly eroding. In 2025, for the first time, new VC managers with and without prior VC experience were nearly equal. This convergence signals a real opportunity. The moment to launch a new …

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Complete List of Unicorn Companies Globally in 2026

Last Updated: April 2026 As of Apr 2026, there are over 1,735 unicorns globally, spanning around 59 countries. This marks a notable increase from previous years, with the number rising significantly since 2022, when there were approximately 1,413. The U.S. remains a leader, hosting around half of the world’s unicorns 890 and claiming more than …

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100 Top Venture Capital Firms (2026)

Last Updated: April, 2026 The process of raising enough capital is the backbone of every startup. But company founders will agree that it is easier said than done. With a limited operating period, few assets and no reputation to rely on, convincing investors, ie. venture capital firms, to fund your startup is always a challenge. …

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Pre-IPO Cap Table: Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque. The company was profitable almost from day one. It is currently the world’s leading technology platform, fundamentally shaping the 2026 landscape through its AI-first strategy and its dominance in enterprise cloud computing.  Founded in 1975, the company’s 1986 IPO remains one …

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100 Top Angel Investors List for Startups (2026)

Last Updated: April, 2026 The startup marketplace by design is mostly cash-strapped, especially in its early stages. Founders start a company pooling in resources from personal savings and donations from family and friends. Beyond this, a steady injection of funds is required for the company to innovate and grow. This is when startups find angel …

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How to Find Startup Co-Founders in 2026?

The importance of picking the right co-founders was brilliantly explained by Paul Graham. He says that co-founders are to a startup what location is for real estate. You can change anything about a house except its location. Similarly, a startup can change its core idea, mission, or targeted market, but changing its co-founders is hard. …

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Turning a Hospital Mix-Up into a Lifesaver: Antxon Caballero on Smarter Patient IDs

Eqvista sat down with Antxon Caballero, CEO of Heuristik, to explore how a personal family crisis sparked a groundbreaking biometric solution for patient identification in healthcare. Heuristik’s origins stem from a near-fatal medication error, highlighting Europe’s widespread patient misidentification issues affecting up to 12.5% of cases on average.  Antxon explains the company’s AI-powered fingerprint technology, …

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From the Montgomery Summit: Why Private Markets Need Valuation Infrastructure, Not Just Liquidity

At the Montgomery Summit, I had the opportunity to present Eqvista Real-Time Company Valuation® and share a broader perspective on where private markets are heading. The discussion was not just about our company, but about a structural shift taking place across the entire market: private companies are staying private longer, reaching far greater scale, and creating …

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AI Startup Fundraising Trends 2026: Challenges and Opportunities for Seed to Series B Founders

If you’re a seed-to-Series B AI founder raising in 2026, you’re entering the most capital-intensive fundraising environment tech has ever experienced. In 2024, AI startups attracted approximately $100-130 billion in venture capital, accounting for about one-third of all VC dollars worldwide, but that was just the beginning. AI secured nearly 50% of global funding in …

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The Secrets Behind High-Volume Valuations:Lessons from 5,000 Deals a Year (Late-stage, Pre-IPO, and Large enterprises)

Every month, Eqvista delivers valuation reports for client assets worth over $5 billion, spanning everything from growth-stage startups to unicorns, with our largest single engagement reaching $25 billion. Across thousands of engagements annually, patterns emerge not just in the numbers, but in methodologies and temperaments. This article distills hard-won lessons from that volume of work, …

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Venture Capital in 2025 (Funding Trends and Key Insights)

2025 was a year of recovery for venture capital, but calling it a full comeback misses the point. Yes, global VC funding reached $425 billion. Funding gained 30% year over year, up from $328 billion in 2024. However, when examining where the money actually went, a clearer picture appears, and capital in 2025 was plentiful …

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Top 10 Angel Investor Platforms in 2026

The fundraising landscape in 2026 has shifted toward a “hybrid” model where digital platforms play a critical role alongside traditional venture capital. For startups, choosing the right platform is no longer just about the money. It is about the speed of closing, the quality of the investor network, and the long-term impact on the cap …

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From Designer to Creative Marketplace Leader: Shawn Rubel on Building a Vision for Creators

From a side project born out of a designer’s frustration to one of the world’s most trusted creative marketplaces, Vecteezy’s journey is a testament to solving real problems through persistence and purpose. In this exclusive interview, Eqvista speaks with Shawn Rubel, Founder and CEO of Vecteezy, about how he turned a personal pain point into …

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100 Top FinTech Companies to Watch in 2026

FinTech refers to any organization that uses technology to enhance or automate financial services and operations. It is a combination of “finance” and “technology”. The term refers to a rapidly growing industry that provides various services to both consumers and businesses. FinTech has various applications, ranging from mobile banking to insurance to cryptocurrency and investment …

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Fixing Past 409A Mistakes for Your Startup

Many startups discover too late that their early 409A valuation wasn’t done correctly and no longer aligns with updated financial data or compliance requirements. The problem? Inaccuracies in those past reports can create inconsistencies across filings, affect option pricing, and raise red flags during audits or due diligence. Eqvista’s retroactive 409A valuation service resolves these …

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Q4 2025 Venture Capital Analysis

VC funding in Q4 2025 indicates a stable yet cautious investment environment. While a large amount of money is still being invested globally, this funding is heavily concentrated in a few specific regions and sectors. North America remains the clear leader in global VC, bringing in $91.15 billion in Q4. At the same time, companies …

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AI Meets Hardware: How Chipmind Agents Tackle the Toughest Pains in Chip Design

In an era where semiconductor design demands unprecedented speed and innovation, Harald Kröll, Co-Founder and CEO of Chipmind, shares his vision for transforming chip development through “design-aware” AI agents.​ In this interview, Eqvista explores Kröll’s journey from digital chip design engineer and SoC product manager to launching Chipmind, addressing key pain points like excessive debugging (90% …

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