Carta’s 2025 AI Funding & Equity Insights | Peter Walker

Everyone has opinions about founder equity, funding timelines, and valuations—but Peter Walker holds the data. 

In this special live Agentic session, I sat down with Peter, Head of Insights at Carta, to unpack what’s actually happening beneath the surface in early-stage AI startups. 

Peter’s team has a privileged vantage point—cap tables, valuations, and hiring data across 45,000 startups and 83% of U.S. unicorns. 

We explore:

• a common equity mistake that’s quietly killing fundraising chances
• why AI founders are raising bigger rounds… and keeping more of their companies
• how lean teams are pushing out serious ARR—and what that means for hiring
• the valuation delta between AI and non-AI startups—and why that window may be closing

If you’re raising, hiring, or advising an AI startup in this market, this one’s for you.

Connect with us here:

1. Peter Walker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterjameswalker/
2. George Bandarian: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgebandarian/⁠
3. Untapped Ventures:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/company/untappedventures

00:00 Trailer

01:26 Introduction

02:44 Untapped Ventures

08:39 Carta

10:34 Early Equity

25:05 Venture Context

34:47 AI Story

51:04 Questions

54:48 Outro