Series A post-money benchmarks

Cap-table mechanics at this stage

The 2026 dominant story is AI bifurcation: AI-native Series A pre-money medians run materially above non-AI. Estimates of the premium vary widely by source and by how 'AI' is defined (AI-native vs AI-enabled): roughly 40% on Carta's broader Series A cut, up to ~85% at the AI-native top end (on the order of $78M vs $42M). The 85% figure used by the AI toggle is the high-end, AI-native case. Either way the premium distorts any blended headline median, so if the calculator user is at an AI startup the band shifts substantially right.

Typical post-money breakdown

For a series a round at the cohort median ($64M post-money, average check 15.0M, 12% option pool refresh): new investor takes roughly 23.4% of post-money. Option pool refresh of 10-12% of post-money consumes additional founder + existing-investor allocation. Existing holders absorb the dilution proportionally.

AI-labelled series a rounds price +85% above non-AI. AI Series A post-money median: approximately $118M. 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: PitchBook-NVCA Q1 2026 ($19.6M median deal) + Carta Q4 2025 ($78.7M post-money) · Verified 2026-06-03.