Equitybee platform investments continue to outperform traditional venture capital DPI benchmarks. Across 8 vintages from 2018 to 2025, Equitybee exceeded the PitchBook top 10% VC DPI benchmark in 7 vintages, and exceeded both the top 25% and median benchmarks in all 8.
These results reflect Equitybee's model, which provides investors with access to diversified private market exposure through employee stock options. This approach focuses on late-stage companies, with investments made at the original grant price, which is often below the company's most recent valuation.
Key Takeaways:
• Equitybee outperformed the PitchBook top 10% DPI benchmark in 7 of 8 vintages (2018-2025),
and outperformed top 25% and median benchmarks in all 8.
• Since the end of Q4 2025, Equitybee investors received distributions from 14 additional liquidity events, generating an aggregate MOIC of 11.0×
• All results reflect realized distributions only, measured as of March 31, 2026.
• The 2022 vintage is the only cohort currently below the top 10% benchmark (-33%), reflecting an updated PitchBook benchmark and continued holding periods on Equitybee 2022 positions. Equitybee's 2022 vintage still outperforms PitchBook's top 25% and median.
* DPI = Distributions to Paid-In Capital; figures rounded to two decimal places. VC data from PitchBook; Equitybee data as of March 31, 2026.
Equitybee's outperformance widens against broader benchmark cohorts. Compared to PitchBook's top 25% and median, Equitybee delivered higher DPI in every vintage from 2018 through 2025.
PitchBook benchmark data as of March 31, 2026.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Equitybee's DPI is calculated either (a) as Total Net Investor Distributions divided by Total Invested Capital (including fees) for individual transactions, aggregated by vintage year, and (b) as Total Net Investor Distributions divided by Total Capital Contributed for funds-of-funds, by vintage year in which the first investment was completed. Results are as of March 31, 2026. VC benchmarks sourced from PitchBook.
Since the end of Q4 2025, Equitybee investors received distributions from 14 additional liquidity events. These events generated an aggregate MOIC of 11.0× - meaningfully above prior-quarter averages, driven by a concentrated set of standout exits.
Several notable Q1 2026 distributions included:
**ROI calculation based on top ROI per investor per company. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
The IPO distributions - Firefly Aerospace, Figure Technology Solutions, and Dren Bio - reflect companies whose post-IPO lockup periods expired during Q1 2026, allowing previously restricted shares to be sold and proceeds distributed to investors. The Cerebras Systems secondary provided a tender-style exit ahead of the company's potential public market debut.
Q1 2026 set new highs for venture dealmaking and exits, but the underlying story remained one of extreme concentration. According to the Q1 2026 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, quarterly deal value reached $267.2 billion and exit value hit $347.3 billion, the highest quarter on record. Yet excluding the five largest deals and exits, those figures fall by 73.2% and 86.6%, respectively. Beneath the headline numbers, the broader market remains constrained.
Distributions to limited partners stayed sluggish industrywide. PitchBook reports the median VC IRR for North American fund vintages since 2019 remains in single digits, and the median DPI for the past decade's vintages is still below 1×. M&A continued to provide meaningful liquidity, reaching $56.6 billion in Q1, while traditional IPO activity slowed through the quarter amid geopolitical tensions and macro uncertainty.
Against this backdrop, Equitybee continued to generate realized DPI across all eight tracked vintages. Q1 distributions came from a balanced mix of M&A, secondary deals, and post-lockup IPO distributions - reflecting how the platform's diversified holdings generate liquidity across multiple event types rather than relying on a single exit channel.
Wiz M&A distribution completed in early Q2 2026 and is not yet reflected in the Q1 2026 results. The Wiz distribution generated an aggregate MOIC of 16.3× and will be reflected in the Q2 2026 DPI report.
Several additional large M&A transactions announced in 2025 and 2026 remain in progress, including Armis, Brex and Carbyne.
Looking further ahead, large private technology companies such as Cerebras Systems and SpaceX are widely anticipated to enter public markets, joining a broader set of potential IPO candidates including OpenAI, Stripe, and Databricks. Many of these companies have spent 10-20 years private and are by far the biggest private companies ever built - a dynamic explored in Equitybee's recent newsletter, Will 2026 Be the Biggest Year Ever for New Tech Millionaires?.
Cerebras Systems is of particular note - Equitybee investors received distributions from a Cerebras secondary deal during Q1 2026, ahead of the company's anticipated IPO.
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DPI (Distributions to Paid-In): Total cash returned ÷ total invested capital.
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Equitybee DPI: Total Net Investor Distributions ÷ Total Invested Capital (including fees), aggregated by vintage year.*
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Vintage Year: First year capital was deployed.
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Benchmarks: PitchBook VC fund DPI, 2018-2025.
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Cut-off Date: March 31, 2026.
* For funds-of-funds, Equitybee's DPI is calculated as Total Net Investor Distributions divided by Total Capital Contributed for funds-of-funds, by vintage year in which the first investment was completed.
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Reflects realized distributions only (no unrealized marks).
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Aggregated platform-level data (not individual investor results).
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Vintage alignment follows deployment year.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Equitybee's DPI is calculated either (a) as Total Net Investor Distributions divided by Total Invested Capital (including fees) for individual transactions, aggregated by vintage year, and (b) as Total Net Investor Distributions divided by Total Capital Contributed for funds-of-funds, by vintage year in which the first investment was completed. Results are as of March 31, 2026. VC benchmarks sourced from PitchBook.
Startup employees often receive stock options as part of their compensation. To convert these options into shares, employees must exercise their right to purchase these stock options, which involves significant upfront capital. Many employees cannot afford to do this, missing out on participating in the potential future success of the companies. Equitybee’s investors can provide the needed capital, allowing employees to exercise their options. In return, investors receive their initial investment, annual interest, and a percentage of the equity's value upon a successful liquidity event, such as an IPO or acquisition. This creates a mutually beneficial opportunity in a largely untapped market worth over $150 billion*.
Despite the aforementioned distribution drought from traditional US venture capital funds (mainly stemming from the lack of IPOs), Equitybee investments have continued to generate liquidity from a myriad of liquidity event types. This well-balanced mix means that Equitybee investors don’t need to rely on a hot IPO market to receive distributions. Additionally, tender offers (Equitybee’s historically highest performing liquidity event type) are a mostly unique exit route tied to the funding of employee stock options, which typically traditional VCs don’t have access to.
*Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) is calculated as the net proceeds distributed to investors divided by their original investment. In the Equitybee model, net proceeds typically comprise the original principal, accrued annual interest (ranging from 3% to 5%), and the investor’s share of the equity value at the liquidity event (typically 20% to 45% of the funded shares). A 5% carried interest is applied to the accrued interest and the equity value share at distribution.
**Time to liquidity Indicates average time from investment date to distribution date, sourced from Equitybee’s proprietary data
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Private placements are speculative, illiquid, contain substantial risk and may result in the complete loss of capital to the investor. Consult your tax accountant as there may be tax considerations on profit amounts. Results may vary with each use and over time. Investor proceeds may be settled in cash or shares.
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Past performance is not indicative of future results. Private placements are speculative, illiquid, contain substantial risk and may result in the complete loss of capital to the investor. Consult your tax accountant as there may be tax considerations on profit amounts. Results may vary with each use and over time. Investor proceeds may be settled in cash or shares. Data calculated based on the US market reflects offers from March 2020 through December 2025; the Israel market reflects offers from June 2018 through December 2025