Carried Interest Vesting: How VC and PE Firms Are Moving in Opposite Directions

Carried interest vesting is diverging — and the gap between VC and PE is widening. Using carried interest data from the Thelander platform, we’re seeing a clear split in how both VC and PE firms are structuring vesting times. At Venture Capital firms, vesting is getting longer.

• Over the last three years, VC has trended toward extended vesting schedules for carried interest.
• Three- and six year vesting structures have become less common, signaling that “quick” vesting structures are falling out of favor.
• Ten year vesting has grown meaningfully, up ~ 5% from 2023.

At Private Equity firms, vesting is getting shorter.

• PE has moved in the opposite direction with vesting times becoming shorter over the same timeframe.
• Five year vesting has seen a sharp drop, falling by ~9% in just the last year.
• Four year vesting has increased by ~7%

The takeaway: With both fundraising and exits taking longer, venture firms are using longer vesting to reinforce long term alignment. Private equity firms are concentrating economics over a tighter window — making it more important than ever to benchmark your carried interest percentages to market.

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Categorised in: Data Drops

This post was written by jthelander