The news
Pulley, the equity management startup that competed with Carta, said on September 15 that it is shutting down on December 8. Pulley shutting down leaves its startup customers weeks to move cap tables, option records and 409A valuation history to a new provider.
TechCrunch reported the news on September 16. Pulley did not give a reason for the closure, and founder Yin Wu, a former Microsoft employee who started building Pulley in 2020, did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. Pulley raised more than $50 million from investors including General Catalyst, Stripe and Founders Fund, according to TechCrunch. A former employee speculated in a LinkedIn post, cited by TechCrunch, that Pulley's real competitor was the spreadsheet, and that AI tools now make spreadsheets easier to maintain.
Pulley's shutdown FAQ sets a tight calendar. Customers who want to move to Carta must opt in to sharing their contact and contract details with Carta through the Pulley login portal by November 30. Carta then contacts them with contract details, and customers have two weeks to sign once the agreement arrives. Service ends December 8. Customers keep limited access to their data inside the Pulley app until January 31, 2027.
Carta is offering incentives. According to the FAQ, Carta will honor current Pulley pricing for the first full year and credit prepaid balances to new accounts, though customers on monthly Pulley plans must move to quarterly or annual billing because Carta does not bill monthly. Carta will accept existing Pulley 409A valuations, the independent appraisals startups use to price stock options, and says it will support the defense of that prior work. Most migrations finish within a few business days after signing, the FAQ says.
Customers who choose another provider are largely on their own. Pulley says it will not help with transitions to competitors and offers no guarantee on timing, pricing or service disruption for those moves. Customers without a new agreement by December 8 lose access to their cap table in Pulley, and the FAQ does not describe a direct bulk export tool.
The numbers
- Shutdown date
- December 8, 2026
- Carta opt-in deadline
- November 30, 2026
- End of limited data access
- January 31, 2027
- Pulley funding raised
- More than $50 million
- Carta price protection for Pulley customers
- First full year
Why CEOs should care
For CFOs and founders, the cap table is a legal record, not just software. Start by pulling every document now: option grants, board consents, SAFE and convertible note terms, 409A reports and transaction history. Reconcile those files with outside counsel's records before the migration, so that errors are caught while Pulley staff can still answer questions. Then decide by November 30, because missing the Carta opt-in window removes the assisted path.
Treat the Carta offer as a negotiation, not a default. The price protection covers only the first full year on Carta, and the FAQ makes no promise about pricing after that; ask now what year two costs, and whether multi-year terms are available. Ask Carta to confirm in writing that migrated 409A reports, board approvals and historical transactions keep their original dates and audit trail. Companies that paid monthly should budget for annual or quarterly billing. Anyone considering another provider should get a written migration plan and timeline before signing, since Pulley will not help with that move.
Boards and audit committees should confirm that option grants and exercises during October and November are recorded in both systems, or paused until the move is done. For companies that close their books on December 31, the cutoff lands in the middle of year-end work, so assign an owner and a checklist now.
The bigger picture
Pulley's exit is a reminder that vendor failure is a real risk in a squeezed software market. Crunchbase News reported on September 16 that enterprise software was nearly absent from the 2026 IPO market, which leaves venture-backed point tools with fewer ways to raise money or sell. Buyers should write exit terms into every contract for systems of record: guaranteed data export in open formats, a minimum notice period and paid transition help. Pulley gave customers about twelve weeks, and the only assisted route runs through a rival.
What’s next
Key dates are November 30 for the Carta opt-in, December 8 for the shutdown and January 31, 2027 for the end of limited data access; customers who opt in have two weeks to sign once Carta's agreement arrives. Watch whether Carta extends its deadlines if migration demand is heavy, and whether other equity management providers announce offers aimed at Pulley customers.
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