Pre-seed post-money benchmarks

Cap-table mechanics at this stage

Pre-seed valuations have compressed materially from 2021 peaks. The $6M pre-money median is well below 2021's $9M+ figures. Most pre-seed rounds in 2026 use post-money SAFE cap-only structure (92% of deals per Carta).

Typical post-money breakdown

For a pre-seed round at the cohort median ($9M post-money, average check 1.4M, 15% option pool refresh): new investor takes roughly 15.3% of post-money. Option pool refresh of 10-15% of post-money consumes additional founder + existing-investor allocation. Existing holders absorb the dilution proportionally.

AI-labelled pre-seed rounds price +25% above non-AI. AI Pre-seed post-money median: approximately $11M. The cap-table implication: AI rounds have higher absolute valuations but similar dilution percentages — the absolute dollar value of the new investor's stake is materially higher.

Source

Source: Carta State of Pre-Seed 2025 + VC Beast State of Pre-Seed 2026 · Verified 2026-06-03.