Startup founders are cashing out early as VCs embrace secondary sales—Mesh’s $20M and Farcaster’s $15M founder payouts highlight a growing trend of “taking some off the table” before exits.

Venture investors are increasingly allowing startup founders to sell some of their personal equity during big funding rounds, and recent crypto/Web3-related deals have become prominent examples of this secondary-market shift. In particular, expense‑management and payments startup Mesh and decentralized social protocol Farcaster have both seen founders take eight‑figure liquidity packages well before any public listing or acquisition, illustrating how “taking some off the table” is becoming normalized in late‑stage private tech financing. In Mesh’s case, the company has raised multiple sizable rounds as it built out payments infrastructure, including corporate spend‑management tooling and, more recently, a global crypto payments network that connects exchanges, wallets, and financial platforms so users can pay or get paid from any wallet on any chain. These raises, backed by major venture firms and strategic fintech investors, have reportedly included opportunities for founders and early stakeholders to sell part of their holdings in secondary transactions alongside primary capital used for expansion, product development, and international growth. The latest funding activity valued Mesh in the unicorn range and featured top‑tier crypto and fintech backers, creating the kind of investor demand that typically enables founder liquidity. Farcaster, a decentralized social networking protocol built on Ethereum infrastructure, has similarly attracted significant venture capital interest and a devoted Web3 user community, making it another candidate where investors have supported secondary share sales for founders during large private rounds. This reflects a broader shift in VC norms: rather than insisting that founders remain entirely illiquid until an IPO or acquisition, investors in competitive deals are more willing to let them de‑risk personally by selling a portion of their equity while still retaining substantial ownership and long‑term incentives. For crypto and Web3 startups operating in volatile markets, this trend can help founders focus on execution while aligning with investors who view selective secondary liquidity as compatible with building enduring, high‑value networks.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

More coverage

• Mesh Secures $82M in Series B Funding to Build First Global Crypto ... (prnewswire.com)
• Crypto payments startup Mesh raises $75M at $1B valuation (siliconangle.com)
• Mesh Payments raises $60M (paymentsdive.com)
• Mesh Payments company information, funding & investors (app.dealroom.co)
• About Us | Mesh | The first global crypto payments network (meshpay.com)

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