Valuation benchmarks: what rounds look like at your stage and region

Median of more than 3,000 pre-seed valuations across regions, as cited in SeedScope’s inbound plan. Regional medians differ widely; the US sits above the global figure and most of Europe below it.

Volume of SAFEs and convertible notes raised on Carta in 2025, as cited in SeedScope’s inbound plan.

Indicative range for first SAFEs of $500k to $2M. Check Carta’s SAFE data for the current median and replace this row when the SeedScope data report is published.

Priced seed rounds of $2M to $5M. Check Carta’s quarterly State of Private Markets for the current median.

AI companies sit well above this range; verify against the current quarterly data.

Indicative. Dealroom and Atomico publish annual European medians; replace when verified.

Indicative. London, Paris and Berlin sit at the top of the range; smaller ecosystems below it.

Indicative. Verify with Dealroom or Atomico data for the current year.

SEIS and EIS angel rounds skew smaller; Beauhurst publishes UK medians by stage.

Indicative. Many pre-seed rounds are rolling SAFE closes rather than a single round.

Indicative. Carta reports the median seed round each quarter.

Indicative. Verify with the current quarterly data.

Indicative.

Sum of all SAFEs before the priced round. Stacks above 20 percent make the seed harder to price.

Including the option pool increase, founders often give up 20 to 30 percent at seed in total.

Lead investors usually target 15 to 20 percent ownership for themselves.

Size it from the hiring plan with the ESOP sizing calculator rather than accepting a round number.

Most post-money SAFEs use a cap only; discount-only SAFEs are rare outside accelerators.

Longer in summer and over the year end. Plan with the fundraising timeline tool.

Based on the Carta pre-seed data cited above; verify the exact split in the report.