We’re excited to introduce Conditional Milestone-Based Vesting, a new addition to Mantle’s cap table management platform that gives companies and their law firms more control over how and when equity vests. Whether tied to product launches, fundraising events, or performance goals, milestone-based vesting helps teams build equity plans that reflect real-world progress, without sacrificing accuracy or compliance.
What is Milestone-Based Vesting?
Milestone-based vesting is a form of conditional equity vesting that ties equity release to specific performance or business milestones. Instead of following a fixed schedule, such as the standard four-year vesting with a one-year cliff, equity vests only when predefined goals—like product launches, fundraising rounds, or revenue targets—are achieved. This gives companies more flexibility and ensures equity rewards are aligned with real outcomes.
Why We Built Milestone-Based Vesting Into Mantle
Startups don’t operate on a clock—they operate on results. Traditional time-based vesting schedules don’t always reflect that.
We designed this feature to bring clarity, automation, and structure to what has historically been a messy, manual process. Founders often resort to tracking milestone-based vesting in side documents or emails—making it hard to keep the cap table accurate and compliant.
Mantle changes that. Our platform brings milestone-based vesting into the core cap table experience, making it easy for founders, law firms, and stakeholders to stay aligned—without sacrificing transparency or control.
“Equity is one of a startup’s most powerful tools,” said Amar Varma, Co-founder and CEO of Mantle. “With milestone-based vesting, we’re giving teams the flexibility to align equity with outcomes—without creating chaos in their cap table.”
Key Features of Mantle’s Milestone-Based Vesting
Here’s how we make milestone-based vesting simple and scalable:
✅ Customizable Vesting Triggers: Define milestones that matter—from product launches to revenue targets.
🔄 Real-Time Cap Table Syncing: Once a milestone is marked as complete, Mantle updates the vesting status automatically.
🔍 Stakeholder Visibility: Stakeholders can view their vesting conditions and progress directly in their portal.
🧩 Template-Based Setup: Create milestone templates and apply them to multiple grants for consistency.
📈 Milestone Tracking: Keep tabs on progress and completion history inside the platform.
🗂️ Org-Wide Milestone Dashboard: View all milestones across the organization and filter by security type, stakeholder, or milestone status to quickly find what you’re looking for.
Built for Founders, Legal Teams, and Stakeholders
- Founders gain tools to reward performance without extra administrative burden.
- Law firms ensure compliance with structured milestone tracking and real-time updates.
- Stakeholders enjoy full transparency into their equity and vesting progress.
How It Works: From Milestone Creation to Real-Time Cap Table Syncing
Setting up conditional milestone-based vesting in Mantle is simple:
- Navigate to the grant setup flow.
- Choose to create a conditional vesting schedule.
- Define custom milestones and their associated vesting tranches.
- Track progress as milestones are completed.
- Once completed, vesting schedules are reflected instantly in the cap table.
Check out this video overview of Milestone-Based Vesting in Mantle.
Get Started with Conditional Vesting in Mantle
Conditional vesting is available now in Mantle’s cap table management platform. If you’re looking to reward real outcomes and improve equity transparency, this feature is for you.
Set up milestone-based vesting in Mantle and start aligning equity with what matters most.
FAQs
What is milestone-based vesting in a startup?
It’s a type of equity vesting that ties ownership to achieving specific business goals rather than time.
Can I create custom milestones in Mantle?
Yes. You can fully customize each milestone and assign unique vesting tranches.
Does this sync with my cap table automatically?
Yes. Mantle updates the cap table in real time once a milestone is marked as complete.
Can I view all company-wide milestones in one place?
Absolutely. Mantle provides an org-wide milestone dashboard where you can filter by security type, stakeholder, or milestone status.
Disclaimer: This blog post is provided as general information to clients and friends of Mantle. It should not be construed as, and does not constitute, financial, legal or tax advice on any specific matter, and employers and employees should always consult their professional advisors, accountants or attorneys as needed when considering decisions or actions that may impact your business or personal interests. Mantle does not assume any liability for reliance on the information in this blog post.