Equity Dilution Calculator

Model your ownership stake after a new investment round or option pool creation.

Note: Option pools are typically sized on a post-money basis but created before the investment, diluting existing shareholders rather than the new investor. This tool models that common "top-off" effect.

Post-Round Ownership
72.0%

Post-money: $10,000,000

YOU OTHERS

Based on standard VC term sheet structures

Updates instantly as you type

Want to model multi-round dilution? → Explore more finance tools

Reality check: Most founders end up owning 10–20% at exit after multiple rounds. The goal isn’t avoiding dilution — it’s growing the value of your slice.

How Fundraising Dilution Works

Every time you raise capital, you issue new shares. This increases the total number of shares in the company, meaning your "slice of the pie" becomes a smaller percentage of a (hopefully) much larger pie.

Pre-Money vs. Post-Money

The Pre-Money Valuation is what the company is worth before the new money comes in. The Post-Money Valuation is simply that value plus the investment.

Post-Money = Pre-Money + Investment

Investor Stake = Investment / Post-Money

The "Hidden" Dilution: Option Pool Shuffle

Most investors require an Employee Stock Option Pool (ESOP) to be created or topped up before they invest. This dilution typically falls on existing shareholders (especially founders), not the new investor. A 10% post-money pool can effectively dilute founders by 12–15% once the investment closes.

Common Dilution Ranges by Round

Funding Stage Common Founder Dilution Investor Target Stake
Pre-Seed 5–15% Accelerators / Angels
Seed Round 15–25% Lead Seed Funds
Series A 20–30% Venture Capital firms

"It's better to own 10% of a unicorn than 100% of a zero."

Dilution is a natural part of scaling. Focus on the value of your stake (Post-Money × Ownership %) rather than just the percentage itself.