October 2, 2026 · 6 min read
What Is RVPI (Residual Value to Paid-In)? How It Works and Examples
The part of a fund’s value that has not been sold yet: how it is measured, how it changes over the fund’s life and what can make it shrink.
- Fund metrics
- Returns
- Funds
What is RVPI? Residual value to paid-in (RVPI) is the value of everything a fund still holds, divided by the money investors have paid in so far. That value is the fund’s net asset value (NAV): its holdings at their estimated worth, minus what it owes. An RVPI of 0.8x means 80 cents of every dollar paid in sits in unsold investments. It is valued and reported, but not yet returned.
RVPI is the paper half of a fund’s return. Add the cash half, DPI (distributions to paid-in), and you get TVPI, total value to paid-in. For a fund holding private companies, RVPI rests on valuations with no sale behind them. It turns into cash only when those companies list or are sold. So the larger it is, the more of the return is still a promise.
0.37x
Median cash paid back per dollar by 2017 venture funds on Carta, with the rest of their value still RVPI nine years in
0.04x
Median cash paid back per dollar by 2019 venture funds on Carta, so everything above 4 cents is still RVPI
4.14x
The TVPI that marks the top 10% of 2017 venture funds, up from 3.31x two years earlier
How Does RVPI Work? The Formula
The industry definition comes from GIPS, the performance standards of the CFA Institute. RVPI, the “unrealized multiple,” is residual value divided by the capital paid in since the fund started. Residual value is “the remaining equity that limited partners or investors have in an investment vehicle at the end of the performance reporting period” (GIPS 2020). Limited partners are the fund’s investors. In practice, residual value is the investors’ share of the fund’s NAV. It is usually net of fees, expenses and any carried interest, the manager’s share of profit, accrued so far.
- RVPI
- Residual value (NAV) ÷ paid-in capital. What is still held, per dollar paid in.
- DPI
- Cumulative distributions ÷ paid-in capital. What has come back, per dollar paid in.
- TVPI
- (Distributions + residual value) ÷ paid-in capital. So TVPI = DPI + RVPI, exactly.
- Paid-in capital
- What investors have actually contributed since the fund started. Amounts promised but not yet called are left out.
Because the three share one denominator, RVPI = TVPI − DPI. Every distribution moves value from the RVPI column to the DPI column. Every revaluation moves RVPI, and TVPI with it. The full multiple is explained on TVPI. This page covers the half that has not happened yet.
Example of RVPI: How It Moves over a Fund’s Life
This is the same illustrative fund as on the TVPI page. It has $100M of commitments, calls capital over five years and sells companies from year five to year eleven. The last column is the share of the fund’s value that is still unrealized.
Illustrative fund made up for this example. Figures are cumulative and net of fees. RVPI = NAV ÷ paid in
RVPI rises while the fund buys and its holdings gain value. It peaks around the end of the investment period, then falls as companies are sold and the proceeds are paid out. By year eleven only a tail is left. The fund’s TVPI barely moves between years eight and eleven. What changes is that RVPI has turned into DPI, the part an investor can spend.
Early in a fund’s life RVPI is nearly all of TVPI. Late in its life it should be almost none. A mature fund with a high RVPI still has most of its selling ahead of it.
Key Risks: RVPI Is Only as Good as the NAV
DPI is counted in cash. RVPI is counted in valuations. A fund values its private holdings at fair value, its estimate of what they would sell for, under its own valuation policy. It bases that on later funding rounds, secondary trades, comparable companies or models. ILPA, a trade body for fund investors, sets a reporting standard for this. The NAV it reports should follow the fund’s partnership agreement and valuation policy. It should also match the fund’s accounts under US GAAP or IFRS, two widely used sets of accounting rules (ILPA, 2025). That makes the figure consistent. It is still an estimate.
Illustrative. A 25% markdown of the remaining holdings cuts TVPI by 0.20x and leaves DPI untouched, because distributions already paid do not reverse
- Out-of-date valuationsA holding valued at its last funding round can sit unchanged for quarters while the market moves. The older the valuation, the less the RVPI tells you.
- Estimated valuesFunds often report on preliminary estimates of their holdings’ values. GIPS recommends stating what share of assets was valued that way.
- Exit discountA NAV is an estimate, and a sale can fetch less. Positions sold on the secondary market, or into a weak market for new listings, can realize less than their valuations.
- ConcentrationIf a few companies make up most of the NAV, one repricing moves RVPI by a large step.
How to Read RVPI Next to DPI and TVPI
Read RVPI against the fund’s age. In the first years a high share of RVPI is normal, because nothing has been sold. By the second half of a fund’s life it should be falling. If it is not, ask why the companies have not exited and how the remaining ones are valued.
Carta’s Q2 2026 figures show how long the paper phase lasts in venture. The median fund that started investing in 2017 had returned 0.37x in cash nine years in. The median 2019 fund had returned 0.04x (Carta, 2026). Whatever those funds report as TVPI, everything above those numbers is RVPI. That value still has to find a buyer, an IPO or an acquirer.
The same arithmetic applies to one deal. In a single-company SPV, a company set up to hold one investment, your RVPI is your share of the vehicle’s NAV over what you paid in. Your DPI is what it has distributed. Axevil reports both in the app, as NAV and distributions, so the split is visible position by position. How those valuations are set is covered in how valuations are updated.
RVPI Definitions and Reporting Standards, as of October 2026
As of October 2026. GIPS and ILPA are industry standards without the force of law. A fund’s own definitions are in its documents.
Common Mistakes When Reading RVPI
- Counting RVPI as money returnedIt is a valuation. Only DPI is cash.
- Ignoring the fund’s ageHigh RVPI in year three is normal. In year twelve it raises a question.
- Dividing by commitmentsThe denominator is paid-in capital. Uncalled capital is not in it.
- Not asking how the NAV is setThe same holdings can carry different values under different policies and dates.
- Comparing across vintagesA young fund and an old one are at different points of the same curve.
The Terms This Page Uses
- RVPI
- Residual value to paid-in: the fund’s remaining NAV, per dollar investors have paid in.
- Residual value
- What investors’ remaining stake in the fund is worth at the reporting date. In practice, their share of NAV.
- DPI
- Distributions to paid-in: cash or shares actually returned, per dollar paid in.
- TVPI
- Total value to paid-in: DPI plus RVPI.
- Fair value
- A fund’s estimate of what a holding would sell for, set under its valuation policy.
- Paid-in capital
- What investors have actually contributed to date, raised by each capital call.
- Vintage year
- The year a fund starts investing. Funds are compared with others of the same vintage.
- MOIC
- Multiple on invested capital: the deal-level multiple, usually gross of fees.
Questions About RVPI
There is no fixed number. RVPI is read against the fund’s age. It is high early on and falls toward zero as the fund sells. A good sign is RVPI turning into DPI on schedule without large markdowns along the way.
TVPI counts everything: what has been paid out and what is still held. RVPI counts only what is still held. TVPI minus DPI equals RVPI.
Yes. When a fund sells a company, the value leaves RVPI and arrives in DPI. A falling RVPI with a rising DPI is a fund returning money, which is the point.
When reported to investors, it should be. Residual value is the investors’ remaining equity after management fees and expenses. It is usually also after any carried interest accrued to the manager.
The arithmetic is the same: your share of the vehicle’s NAV divided by what you paid in. In a single-company vehicle it moves with that one company’s valuation until the exit.
Where the Figures on This Page Come From
Definitions and figures were last checked on October 2, 2026. The Carta figures describe venture funds on Carta’s platform as of the end of Q2 2026. They match the figures on the TVPI page. The fund example is illustrative.
- 01CFA Institute2020GIPS Standards for Asset Owners — residual value, RVPI, TVPI, DPI; provision 25.B.5 on estimated values
- 02Institutional Limited Partners Association01.2025Performance Template Guidance, Granular Methodology — NAV within the LPA and valuation policy; funds from 01.01.2026
- 03Carta09.23.2026VC Fund Performance: Q2 2026 — median DPI by vintage, top-decile TVPI for the 2017 vintage
This page explains how a market works. It is not investment advice, not a recommendation of any security, strategy or company, and not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy anything. Private companies may never list or be acquired, positions in them can be illiquid for years, and the entire amount invested can be lost. Figures are accurate as of the dates shown and change. Requirements for investor status, and the tax treatment of a private holding, differ by jurisdiction — the jurisdiction is named wherever this page discusses either. Prepared by the AXEVIL Capital research team.
What closed on the private market in the past two weeks
The rounds that priced, the tender offers that opened and the listings that filed — with the structure of each deal and the date on every figure. Written by the team that reads the paperwork.
Where to go from here
Fund fees & metricsWhat Is TVPI (Total Value to Paid-In)? How It Works and ExamplesTVPI is what a fund has paid out plus the value it still holds, divided by the money investors paid in. How it splits into DPI and RVPI, with a worked example.
Fund fees & metricsWhat Is MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital)? How It Works and ExamplesMOIC divides what an investment is worth, cash returned plus current value, by the money put in. How to read it, before and after fees, and why it ignores time.
Private equity & fundsWhat Is a Capital Call? Definition, How It Works and ExamplesA capital call is a fund manager’s request for part of the money investors committed. How notices, deadlines and credit lines work, with an example.