DPI (Distributions to Paid-In Capital)
A fund performance metric measuring actual cash returned to investors relative to capital they've contributed.
DPI measures realized returns: it's the ratio of cash (or stock) actually distributed to LPs divided by the total capital they've paid into the fund so far. A DPI of 1.0x means LPs have gotten back exactly what they put in; above 1.0x means the fund has returned real profit, not just paper gains.
DPI is considered the most honest venture fund metric because it strips out unrealized markups on paper — a fund can show an impressive TVPI driven by inflated valuations on companies that never actually exit, while DPI only counts money that has genuinely come back to investors.
Because venture funds take 8-12+ years to fully realize returns, DPI is naturally low early in a fund's life and only becomes a meaningful signal in years 6 and beyond, once real exits have had time to happen.
DPI = cumulative distributions to LPs / total paid-in capitalLPs have contributed $40M total to a fund so far, and the fund has distributed $30M in cash and stock from exits to date. DPI = $30M / $40M = 0.75x — meaning LPs have received 75% of their contributed capital back, with more presumably to come from remaining unrealized positions.
Ask any GP raising a new fund for their prior funds' DPI by vintage year, not just TVPI or IRR — a fund manager with strong TVPI but weak DPI several years into a fund's life is a real signal worth probing.
What's a good DPI for a venture fund?
It depends heavily on fund age — DPI near zero is normal in years 1-4, while a mature 10+ year fund returning below 1.5-2x DPI is generally considered underwhelming for top-quartile venture performance.
Why is DPI considered more reliable than TVPI?
Because DPI only counts cash actually returned to investors, while TVPI includes unrealized paper markups on companies that haven't exited yet and could still decline in value.
Related terms
Run the numbers yourself: dilution, SAFE conversion, and fund-returner calculators.