Vauban

Vauban, now operating as Carta, functions as a platform to streamline the creation and administration of venture capital funds and special purpose vehicles (SPVs). It was founded in London in 2017 by French business school friends Rémy Astié and Ulric Musset. The founders' journey began after they met in business school, where they first collaborated on a forex trading venture and later a fashion app. Their initial startup was named Citadelle.io, but they rebranded to Vauban after receiving a cease and desist letter from the hedge fund Citadel Securities. The name Vauban is a reference to the French engineer who designed citadels.

The company's core business is providing the infrastructure for venture capitalists, angel investors, and founders to set up and manage investment vehicles. This digital platform automates and simplifies the complex processes involved in launching funds, including legal structuring, documentation, investor onboarding, banking, and reporting. By digitizing this workflow, Vauban significantly reduces the time and cost associated with establishing funds, which traditionally could take weeks and incur high legal fees. The platform serves a global clientele, enabling the creation of funds in various jurisdictions like the U.S., U.K., British Virgin Islands, and Luxembourg. Its revenue model is subscription-based, with fees dependent on the number of investors. Clients range from angel syndicates and emerging fund managers to established venture capital firms like Anthemis, Passion Capital, and Octopus Ventures. Founders also use the service to consolidate multiple small-ticket investors into a single SPV, maintaining a clean capitalization table.

Initially, the platform was designed for creating hedge funds, but the founders pivoted to focus on the private venture capital market after finding it a better fit for their model, a decision that led to substantial client growth. In July 2022, Vauban was acquired by Carta, a prominent U.S.-based equity management platform. The acquisition was a strategic move to combine Vauban's strength in fund formation and setup with Carta's robust capabilities in fund administration and accounting. This integration aims to create a comprehensive, global platform that supports investment managers from their first small SPV to operating billion-dollar funds. Following the acquisition, Vauban began the process of rebranding to Carta, with its services and team being integrated into Carta's global operations, establishing a significant European presence for the combined entity.

Keywords: fund administration, special purpose vehicle, SPV, venture capital, angel investing, investment platform, fund formation, capital pooling, syndicate, cap table management, portfolio management, private market investment, fund structuring, investor onboarding, fintech, legal tech, cross-border investment, asset management, investment vehicles, Carta