Post-money valuation, the math right.
Pre-money + investment = post-money. That's the obvious bit. The interesting bit: SAFE conversion math, option pool shuffle (pre vs post inclusion), AI-bifurcated 2026 benchmarks. Sister site to premoneyvaluation.com for the founder lens. No VC affiliate revenue.
Where the medians sit today
Q1 2026 data from PitchBook-NVCA + Carta Q4 2025. The 2026 dominant story: AI bifurcation. AI Series A medians are 85% above non-AI medians.
| Stage | Pre-money median | Post-money median | P25-P75 post | Check size | Option pool | AI premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | $6M | $9M | $4-$15M | $0.25-$2.5M | 10-15% | +25% |
| Seed | $15M | $24M | $14-$35M | $1-$6M | 10-15% | +35% |
| Series A | $48M | $64M | $32-$110M | $5-$25M | 10-12% | +85% |
| Series B | $150M | $200M | $100-$380M | $15-$50M | 5-10% | +70% |
| Series C+ | $400M | $500M | $220-$1200M | $30-$200M | 3-8% | +55% |
Verified 2026-06-03. Pre-money medians from PitchBook; post-money medians from Carta (via named secondary writeups).
Standard methods, sourced
VC Method
Berkus Method
Scorecard / Bill Payne
Risk Factor Summation
DCF (early-stage adapted)
Comparables (market multiples)
Broad-based weighted average is in 95% of deals
Broad-based weighted average is the market standard in 95% of 2026 deals. Full-ratchet anti-dilution is much harsher to founders and rarely accepted in current term sheets. Narrow-based weighted average is less common than broad-based but more founder-friendly than full-ratchet.
New Conversion Price = Old Price × (Outstanding + Money_Raised_at_Old_Price) / (Outstanding + Money_Raised_at_New_Price)Old conversion $10, down round at $5, 10M outstanding, $10M raised at $5. New conversion price = $9.55 (down from $10). Modest dilution adjustment versus the harsh full-ratchet alternative.
Most calculators just do pre + investment = post
That math is right but it's also the easy bit. The bits that actually matter to a founder signing a term sheet are: the option pool shuffle (which calculator treats it as coming out of the pre-money? — almost none do this correctly), SAFE conversion math at the priced round (most calculators ignore SAFEs entirely), and anti-dilution provisions on existing preferred stock (most calculators don't model them at all).
postmoneyvaluation.com handles all three. The calculator above shows the pool shuffle effect explicitly with a toggle. SAFE conversion is integrated. Anti-dilution math is documented. Sister site premoneyvaluation.com covers the founder lens — same data, different framing.
This is not legal or tax advice. Consult counsel before signing any term sheet. Methodology.
AI Series A pre-money medians are 85% above non-AI
PitchBook Q1 2026 reports the median AI Series A pre-money at $78M, vs $42Mfor non-AI. The 85% premium materially distorts the headline median. The calculator's "AI / ML company" toggle applies this premium per stage.
Practical reading:if you're raising as a non-AI startup in 2026, the "market median" in any aggregated dataset is likely AI-inflated. Pull the AI premium out before benchmarking your valuation against published medians.