EquityPeople

What EquityPeople does

EquityPeople is a Zurich-headquartered, boutique compensation and equity advisory firm founded in 2022 by Spela Prijon and Tamas Varkonyi, operating commercially under the Norwegian legal entity Optio Incentives AS. The firm provides consulting services spanning employee equity plan design, variable compensation frameworks, and total rewards strategy to venture-backed startups and their investors across Europe and the United States, with named clients including m3ter and Argent. There is no proprietary technology platform; the offering is delivered as human advisory work, including benchmarking, scenario and pool burn modeling, tax-efficient multi-jurisdiction setup, and stakeholder education.

The business model is service-only professional consulting. Revenue is generated through tiered project-based engagements priced by employee headcount ($8,000 for 0–50 employees, $22,000 for 50+, $40,000 for 500+, custom quotes for groups and public companies), supplemented by pay-as-you-go day rates of $1,600–$3,000 and hourly rates of $500–$800. Distribution is consultative-direct via the firm website with prominent 'Schedule a call' calls to action, paired with a channel motion in which VCs bundle EquityPeople services into portfolio-company onboarding packs and portfolio education sessions. Thought-leadership content (blog, podcast, joint research with Infinite Equity, benchmarking data from Ravio) supports top-of-funnel demand generation. The current team is 5 people, including senior operators drawn from Personio and Ledgy.

Name

EquityPeople

Legal name

Optio Incentives AS

Website

https://equitypeople.co

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

EquityPeople is a Zurich-based boutique advisory firm, founded in 2022, that designs employee equity plans, variable compensation, and total rewards strategies for venture-backed startups and their investors across Europe and the US, operating under the Norwegian legal entity Optio Incentives AS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Compensation Consulting

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Equity Compensation & Global Share Plan Administration (BPACAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards Advisory (BPACAJAG)

Keywords

• Equity compensation consulting
• Employee equity plans
• Variable compensation design
• Total rewards strategy
• Startup compensation advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Not disclosed

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Project-based Consulting: Fixed project-based pricing for compensation consulting engagements, with pricing tiers based on company size (employee count). Also offers day rate and hourly rate for pay-as-you-go expert services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

EquityPeople provides expert consulting services for designing and implementing employee equity schemes, variable compensation plans, and total rewards strategies for venture-backed startups. Engagements cover benchmarking, scenario and pool burn modeling, tax-efficient setup across jurisdictions, salary band design, and stakeholder education. The firm also serves venture capital firms with on-call support, compensation diagnostics, and portfolio education sessions.

Product overview

EquityPeople is a consulting services company offering expert advisory services for employee equity schemes and compensation strategies. The company operates as a single unified service offering, providing three core consulting service lines: Employee Equity Plans Consulting, Variable Compensation Consulting, and Total Rewards Consulting. These services are delivered through project-based engagements and pay-as-you-go expert services, with specific deliverables including salary ranges, equity allocation strategies, and pool burn models. The company primarily serves startups and venture-backed companies in Europe and the US, working both directly with companies and through VC partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Employee Equity Plans Consulting Expert consulting service for designing and implementing employee equity schemes that scale with company growth, including precise benchmarking, scenario or pool burn modeling, and tax-efficient setups across jurisdictions. Designed for venture-backed startups and growing companies.
• Variable Compensation Consulting Advisory service for designing variable compensation plans that motivate and drive the right outcomes, with clear goal-setting and fair payout structures. Tailored for startups and scaleups seeking to align incentives with impact.
• Total Rewards Consulting Optimization of rewards strategy by combining equity, variable compensation, cash component, and perks into clear, meaningful packages to attract, engage, and retain talent. Designed for startups seeking to compete for talent through holistic rewards.
• Services for Companies (Project-Based Engagement) Project-based consulting engagement for companies covering discovery (audit and stakeholder interviews), design (benchmarking and positioning), implementation (salary bands and pay disparity analysis), and education (compensation philosophy and manager training). Used by startups to stand up or overhaul compensation and equity programs.
• Services for VCs Service offering for venture capital firms including on-call support for deal teams, compensation execution diagnostic reports for portfolio company onboarding, and portfolio education sessions (online or in-person). Allows VCs to extend expert compensation and equity support to their portfolio companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Companies can move fast and with confidence on equity strategy implementation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Infinite EquityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on equity allocation research and content. Infinite Equity team member Robyn Shutak co-authored the 'Budgeting your incentive pool' guide with EquityPeople founders.
• RaviominorOthersRavio provides equity benchmarking data referenced in EquityPeople articles. Their data on equity compensation trends and market benchmarks is cited in content about volatile stock markets.
• Optio IncentivescoreOthersEquityPeople appears to be operated under or in partnership with Optio Incentives AS (indicated in website footer '© 2025 Optio Incentives AS'). This is the parent/legal entity for the business.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Personio: European HRIS platform for SMEs offering payroll, HR, and people analytics. Comparable as an ecosystem peer where EquityPeople team member Ann-Sophie previously led Personio's reward strategy; Personio could embed EquityPeople-style advisory into its broader HR suite.
• Ravio: European compensation benchmarking platform used by tech companies to benchmark salaries and equity. Comparable as a data partner referenced throughout EquityPeople's content; competes for the same HR/CFO buyer budget for compensation intelligence.
• Deel: Global HR and payroll platform offering EOR, equity administration, and compensation tools for distributed teams. Comparable as an enabling platform that increasingly bundles global equity scheme support, including in jurisdictions EquityPeople covers.

Broad incumbents

• Carta: Dominant US equity management platform offering cap-table, valuation, equity administration, and 409A services. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the equity compensation space that increasingly bundles advisory and benchmarking capabilities, intersecting with EquityPeople's niche.
• Aon: Global professional services firm with a large Human Capital practice offering compensation benchmarking, equity plan design, and rewards strategy. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving multinational corporates on total rewards, overlapping with EquityPeople's larger-company segment.
• Mercer: Global HR consulting firm offering executive compensation, broad-based equity plans, and total rewards advisory. Comparable as a large incumbent that competes for the same compensation/equity advisory wallet, particularly with larger and public-company clients.

Emerging players

• Pave: Compensation management platform providing real-time benchmarking, salary bands, and equity range grids for venture-backed companies. Comparable because Pave offers the data-driven compensation tooling that complements EquityPeople's consulting deliverables (salary ranges, equity grids, pool burn models).
• Ledgy: European equity management platform offering cap-table, equity scheme, and employee equity communication software. Comparable because Ledgy occupies the same equity-compensation space EquityPeople consults on, and EquityPeople's team member Mar was previously Head of CX at Ledgy.
• Vestd: UK-based equity scheme platform for startups and scaleups, handling share scheme setup, EMI options, and employee equity management. Comparable as an emerging European competitor combining equity scheme administration with advisory content targeting the same startup customer.

Direct peers

• Infinite Equity: Equity administration and scheme design services firm with similar focus on cap-table and equity plan administration for startups. Comparable as a direct peer in equity administration advisory, with which EquityPeople collaborates on content (e.g., 'Budgeting your incentive pool' guide).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/equitypeople

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about EquityPeople