Linear, the project-management tool popular with engineering teams, doubled its valuation to $2.5B via a $99M secondary tender offer completed August 26, 2026 — up from the $1.25B mark set in its Series C about a year prior. Accel led the transaction, joined by existing investor 01A and new participants Salesforce Ventures and S32.
The numbers
A tender offer works differently from a primary round: the $99M went to selling shareholders — mostly employees — rather than onto Linear's balance sheet. The company didn't need the cash; by its own account it has been profitable since its second year and stays cash-flow positive. The valuation step-up is still real and still resets the reference price for anyone's remaining unsold equity, but it's worth understanding that this event was structured around giving people liquidity, not funding growth.
What changed
Linear crossed $100M in annual recurring revenue earlier in 2026, with net revenue retention reported at 177% — a strong efficiency signal that gave the company leverage to price a tender at double its prior mark without needing to justify it to new primary investors. That combination of profitability and growth is unusual enough among software companies of this size that it's likely part of why Accel and new investors were willing to price in at 2×.
What this means for employees
If you sold into the tender, the transaction is a realized gain (or, for ISO holders who exercised into the sale, a taxable event with its own AMT and holding-period mechanics — get advice before assuming favorable long-term capital gains treatment applies). If you held rather than sold, the $2.5B mark is now the reference point for any 409A-linked strike pricing on new grants and for AMT spread calculations if you exercise ISOs going forward — a meaningfully higher number than the $1.25B baseline most existing grants were priced against.
If you're holding Linear equity and sat out the tender, run the calculator with the new $2.5B mark against your grant details — the spread on unexercised ISOs just changed even though you didn't participate.