Cake Equity

Cake Equity, founded in 2018 by Jason Atkins and Kim Hansen, provides a cloud-based platform for startups to manage equity. The company's genesis stems from the founders' frustrations with the complexity, time, and expense involved in traditional equity management processes like capital raising and implementing employee share plans. Leveraging their collective experience in finance, accounting, and technology, they aimed to simplify how early-stage companies handle equity.

Jason Atkins, with a background as a CFO and a CPA, experienced firsthand the inefficiencies in managing startup equity. His co-founder, Kim Hansen, brings a strong foundation in software engineering and entrepreneurship, having previously co-founded a software company facilitating marketplace transactions for illiquid assets. Their joint venture began with a shared passion for promoting innovation and making entrepreneurship more accessible, which led to the creation of Cake Equity.

The company operates on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model, generating recurring revenue through subscriptions. Its platform is designed for startups from pre-seed to Series B, offering tools to manage capitalization tables, streamline capital raising, and administer employee stock option plans (ESOPs). Key features include digital document signing, a centralized document repository, and built-in legal templates to ensure compliance. The platform serves a global client base, with a presence in Australia, the US, UK, India, and Singapore. The business model also includes a freemium offering, providing free access for startups with up to five stakeholders, with subscription fees applicable as the company grows.

Cake Equity's services are designed to transform equity from a complex paper asset into a more tangible and motivating tool for team members. The platform provides an intuitive interface for both founders and employees. For employees, a dedicated portal called 'My Cake' helps visualize their ownership and its potential value. For founders, the platform automates many administrative tasks associated with equity, such as managing a growing number of shareholders, issuing options globally, and preparing for audits with features like 409A valuations. The company has secured seed funding from investors including Jason Calacanis's TheSyndicate and Australian VC Rampersand, enabling its global expansion.

Keywords: equity management, cap table software, employee stock options, startup fundraising, capital raising, shareholder management, ESOP, venture capital, seed funding, financial technology, SaaS, equity administration, startup compliance, 409A valuation, investor relations, share plan administration, equity compensation, startup finance, digital equity, ownership culture