Brex vs Carta: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Brex reported $700M of revenue in FY2025 and — of net income. Carta reported $515M of revenue in FY2025 and — of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Brex
Brex never published audited results as a private company. Sacra estimates annualized revenue slowed to $312 million in 2022, growing 30%, while the company was reportedly burning about $22 million a month. After the January 2024 restructuring, growth picked up: Brex said in February 2025 that enterprise revenue rose 80% with net revenue retention near 140%, and Sacra estimates total annualized revenue reached $700 million in August 2025, up 50%. Brex turned operating-cash-flow positive for the first time in October 2025, according to Sacra. Before the sale it raised about $2.3 billion in equity. Capital One paid $5.15 billion, roughly 58% below the $12.3 billion valuation of 2021.
Carta
Carta does not publish audited financials. Henry Ward has said the company was approaching $500 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025. Sacra estimates revenue of about $373 million in 2023, $442 million in 2024 (+19%), and $515 million in 2025 (+16.5%), with growth slowing after the end of zero-rate venture funding. Carta raised its last primary round, a $500 million Series G led by Silver Lake and Lightspeed, at a $7.4 billion valuation in August 2021; a January 2022 employee secondary sale reportedly priced it at $8.5 billion. Total equity funding is roughly $1 billion.
Revenue and profit by year
Brex
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $700M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
| FY2022 | $312M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Carta
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $515M | — | 0.0% | +16.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | $442M | — | 0.0% | +18.5% | Source |
| FY2023 | $373M | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Brex
- Card interchange
Majority (undisclosed)
Fees paid by merchants' banks when customers use Brex corporate cards. Sacra estimates gross take of about 2.7% of card volume before partner costs.
- Software subscriptions
Growing share (undisclosed)
Brex Premium at $12 per user per month, plus enterprise contracts for spend management, approvals, travel and accounting automation.
- Cash management and payments
Undisclosed
Fees from partner banks and funds that hold customer cash in Brex Business Accounts, and transaction revenue from bill pay.
Carta
- Cap table and 409A valuation subscriptions
~67% (2023, Sacra estimate)
Annual subscriptions priced by company stage and stakeholder count, plus 409A valuation packages.
- Fund administration and Fund ERP
~27% (2023, Sacra estimate)
Fees tied to fund size and complexity for accounting, tax, reporting, and related software.
- Private equity, private credit, and legal services
~5% (2023, Sacra estimate; growing)
Newer PE and private credit products, plus Carta Law from 2026.
Business model and strategy
Brex
How it makes money
Brex makes most of its money from interchange, the fee a merchant's bank pays each time a Brex card is used. Sacra estimates Brex collects about 2.7% of card volume as gross revenue and keeps roughly 65% gross margin after paying its issuing and network partners.
Growth strategy
Brex's growth since 2024 has come from enterprise customers, international companies and partners. It serves more than 300 public companies, holds an EU payment institution licence obtained in August 2025, and distributes its cards through other software: Brex Embedded partners include Navan, Zip, Coupa and Sabre, and Brex is the default commercial card for Fifth Third Bank's commercial clients, according to Sacra.
Competitive advantage
Brex's main technical advantage is its own card-issuing stack. It integrated directly with Mastercard rather than relying on a third-party processor, which lets it issue local corporate cards, settle in local currency and reimburse employees in more than 50 countries. That matters to multinational customers such as Anthropic, Arm and Robinhood.
Carta
How it makes money
Carta sells annual software subscriptions plus service fees on both sides of the private market. Companies pay for cap table management, equity plan administration, and 409A valuations, with prices rising as stakeholder counts and funding stages grow.
Growth strategy
Carta grows by selling more products to the firms already on its ledger. The playbook is to take a professional service (409A valuations, fund accounting, legal work), automate it, and tie the output to Carta's system of record. Fund ERP bundles fund administration, fund tax, portfolio valuations, data collection, forecasting, and CRM.
Competitive advantage
Carta's main advantage is its two-sided network. Startups put investors on their Carta cap tables, investors adopt Carta for fund administration, and those funds steer portfolio companies to Carta. As a registered transfer agent holding the legal record of ownership, Carta is also costly to leave: switching means migrating years of grants, vesting schedules, and investor records.
Questions about Brex vs Carta
Which company has higher revenue — Brex Inc. or Carta, Inc.?
Brex Inc. reported $700.0M (FY2025), while Carta, Inc. reported $515.0M (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Brex Inc. is the larger business, with Carta, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
Which is more financially efficient — Brex Inc. or Carta, Inc.?
Brex Inc. generates $636k / employee in revenue per employee, while Carta, Inc. generates $271k / employee. Brex Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Brex Inc. and Carta, Inc. make money?
Brex Inc. and Carta, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Brex Inc.: Brex makes most of its money from interchange, the fee a merchant's bank pays each time a Brex card is used. Carta, Inc.: Carta sells annual software subscriptions plus service fees on both sides of the private market.
Is Brex Inc. bigger than Carta, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Brex Inc. ($700.0M (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Carta, Inc. ($515.0M (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Brex vs Carta overview