FinelystHow Much Equity to Give Up in a Seed Round
How much equity to give up in a seed round: the rules of thumb, a method to work out your number and worked examples of dilution across future rounds.
Pre-Money & Post-Money Valuation Calculator
Turn a term sheet's headline numbers into what they mean for ownership. Start from the pre-money valuation, or from an offer like “€500,000 for 10%”.
- Post-money valuation
- €5,000,000
- Investor ownership
- 20.00%
- Existing holders after the round
- 80.00%
- Price per share
- €0.4000
- New shares issued
- 2,500,000
- Shares after the round
- 12,500,000
Post-money = pre-money + investment. Investor stake = investment ÷ post-money.
Simple priced round: no option pool top-up, no SAFEs or notes converting. Use the dilution calculator for those.
Runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to a server.
How it works
- Choose whether you know the pre-money valuation or only the investment and the stake offered.
- Enter the amounts. Post-money and the investor's ownership update immediately.
- Optionally add the fully diluted share count before the round to get the price per share and the number of new shares.
- For option pool top-ups or several rounds, continue in the dilution calculator.
FAQ
What is the difference between pre-money and post-money valuation?
Pre-money is the value of the company before the new investment; post-money is pre-money plus the new money. The investor's stake is always calculated on the post-money value.
How do I calculate post-money valuation?
Add the investment to the pre-money valuation. €4,000,000 pre-money plus a €1,000,000 investment gives €5,000,000 post-money, so the investor owns 20%.
What valuation does “€500,000 for 10%” imply?
The post-money is €500,000 ÷ 10% = €5,000,000, so the pre-money valuation is €4,500,000. Switch the calculator to the second mode to work this out for any offer.
How is the price per share calculated?
Price per share is the pre-money valuation divided by the fully diluted shares before the round. New shares issued equal the investment divided by that price.
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