Data sourced from Dakota Private Markets, the private fund performance platform powered by Dakota. Learn More | Request Access
TVPI is the first number most allocators check on a venture fund, and the easiest to misread. The median venture fund from the 2010 to 2021 vintages sits at 1.60x TVPI, according to Dakota Private Markets Peer Groups as of Q2 2026, and a top-quartile fund is at 2.39x or higher. But whether a given multiple is strong depends on when the fund started and how much of it is cash.
This post walks through how to benchmark a venture fund's TVPI in four steps, using Dakota Private Markets venture capital peer groups.
What TVPI Measures
TVPI, or total value to paid-in capital, divides everything a fund has produced by the capital investors have paid in. That includes cash already distributed and the current value of investments the fund still holds. A 2.0x TVPI means every dollar paid in is now worth two, but it does not say how much of that has come back as cash.
Step 1: Match the Vintage
A venture fund's TVPI rises as its companies mature, so a fund should only be compared with funds that started around the same time.
|
Vintage Cohort
|
Median TVPI
|
|
2010 to 2013
|
2.70x
|
|
2014 to 2017
|
2.15x
|
|
2018 to 2021
|
1.30x
|
Source: Dakota Private Markets, venture capital peer groups, as of Q2 2026.
The same multiple can tell two different stories. A 2019 fund at 1.6x is ahead of the 1.30x median for its vintages. A 2012 fund at 1.6x is well behind the 2.70x median for its own.
Step 2: Place It in a Quartile
|
Metric
|
3rd Quartile
|
Median
|
1st Quartile
|
|
Net IRR
|
4.02%
|
10.50%
|
16.96%
|
|
TVPI
|
1.23x
|
1.60x
|
2.39x
|
|
DPI
|
0.29x
|
0.83x
|
1.39x
|
Source: Dakota Private Markets, venture capital peer groups, vintages 2010 to 2021, as of Q2 2026.
Across the 2010 to 2021 vintages, a fund above 2.39x TVPI sits in the top quartile, and a fund below 1.23x sits in the bottom quartile. These ranges blend older and newer funds, so use them after Step 1, not instead of it.
Step 3: Check How Much Is Cash
DPI, or distributions to paid-in capital, shows how much of a fund's value has actually been returned. Two funds at 2.0x TVPI can look identical on paper while one has returned most of that in cash and the other is still mostly unrealized marks. The median venture fund has returned 0.83x in cash, and a top-quartile fund 1.39x. The closer DPI is to TVPI, the more of the result is already locked in.
Step 4: Pair It With IRR
TVPI shows how much value a fund has created. Net IRR shows how fast it did it. A fund that reaches 2.0x in five years has a much higher IRR than one that takes twelve. The median venture fund has returned a 10.50% net IRR, and top quartile starts at 16.96%. Reading the two together shows whether a strong multiple came from a few long-held winners or from steady, timely gains.
What Allocators Look For
-
TVPI against vintage peers. The question is how a fund compares with funds that started at the same time, not with the market as a whole.
-
DPI behind the TVPI. A high multiple backed by distributions carries more weight than one built on marks.
-
IRR beside the multiple. Allocators read the two together, and a gap between them invites questions.
-
Consistency across funds. One strong vintage is a start. A record of strong multiples across several funds is what sets a manager apart.
See Fund-Level Performance in Dakota Private Markets
Dakota Private Markets shows fund-level net IRR, TVPI, DPI and quartile rank by vintage, so you can see exactly where your funds and your peers' funds stand.
Request Access.
