A startup's pre-money valuation is the agreed price of the company just before new investors come in. Add the amount raised to get the post-money valuation, and that ratio sets the stake given up. The calculation is a simple subtraction. Negotiating that figure, however, keeps founders and investors busy at every round, from Zurich to Lausanne.
This calculation is only one piece of the journey to raise funds in Switzerland, with its stages and its players. Here, a single question: how the valuation is calculated, and what it changes for the founders' stake.
What do pre-money and post-money valuations measure?
The pre-money valuation measures what the company is worth before the investment, according to the definition used by Wikipedia. It is used by business angels, venture capital funds and corporate investors. They rely on it to set the number of shares they receive in exchange for their money.
The post-money valuation is obtained by adding the fresh money. The basic formula is simple:
- post-money = pre-money + amount invested;
- pre-money = post-money − amount invested;
- new investor's stake = amount invested ÷ post-money.
The calculation is done on a fully diluted basis. All options and warrants already issued are included in the share count. Options already granted to employees therefore count in the calculation, even if no one has exercised them yet.
How do you calculate your pre-money valuation, step by step?
Let's take a fictitious example, in francs, for a young Swiss public limited company (société anonyme). The founders hold 100,000 shares. An investor puts in 1 million francs at a pre-money valuation of 4 million.
- Price per share: 4 million ÷ 100,000 shares = 40 francs.
- New shares: 1 million ÷ 40 francs = 25,000 shares.
- Post-money valuation: 4 + 1 = 5 million francs, for 125,000 shares.
- Investor's stake: 1 ÷ 5 = 20%. The founders go from 100% to 80%.
The trap lies in the wording. An investor who offers "1 million for 20%" is talking about a post-money of 5 million. Founders who hear "a 5 million valuation" often think pre-money. The gap here is worth one million francs.
How does dilution add up from one funding round to the next?
Dilution from a funding round is cumulative: each round reduces the stake of all existing shareholders. Successive rounds, from pre-seed to Series A, B or C, all repeat the same calculation.
Let's continue the fictitious example. Eighteen months later, a fund invests 3 million francs at a pre-money of 12 million.
| Fictitious example | Before any round | After round 1 | After round 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post-money valuation | – | 5 million francs | 15 million francs |
| Price per share | – | 40 francs | 96 francs |
| Total number of shares | 100,000 | 125,000 | 156,250 |
| Founders' stake | 100% | 80% | 64% |
| Round 1 investor's stake | – | 20% | 16% |
| Round 2 investor's stake | – | – | 20% |
The founders have given up 36% of the capital in two rounds. On paper, however, their stake is worth more: 64% of 15 million, or 9.6 million francs, compared with 4 million before round 1. A smaller stake can therefore be worth more, as long as the valuation keeps rising.
What is an up round or a down round?
An up round takes place at a price per share higher than that of the previous round. This is the Wall Street Journal's definition, as cited by Wikipedia. In the example, the move from 40 to 96 francs per share makes it an up round.
Other players compare valuations instead. For them, a round is an up round when the new pre-money exceeds the post-money of the previous round. Here, 12 million versus 5 million: the verdict is the same.
A down round mainly penalises founders and early shareholders. It increases dilution, can damage reputation and raise the cost of capital. According to the same source, such rounds were common after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000–2001 and during the 2008 financial crisis.
What methods are used to set a startup's valuation?
No formula delivers a startup's valuation: it is negotiated, backed by a few methods. A young company has neither a track record of profits nor a share price. Its value rests on its growth potential and on a possible exit, through an acquisition or a stock market listing.
The three approaches most cited by our sources:
| Method | Principle | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Comparables | Look at the price of similar companies or recent rounds in the same region and the same sector | Less precise, as every startup is unique |
| Adjustment grid (scorecard type) | Start from the average pre-money of pre-revenue startups in the same market, then adjust it according to their attributes | Depends on a reliable market average |
| Venture capital method (First Chicago) | Build three scenarios up to the exit, discount them at the required return, then weight them by their probability | Relies on forecasts and estimated probabilities |
How do comparables work?
The comparables method starts from prices observed at similar companies. Multiples are derived from them, for example of revenue. For a startup, the most useful benchmark is often the average pre-money valuation of recent rounds, in its region or sector.
What does the venture capital method do?
The so-called venture capital method, or First Chicago method, originated in the venture capital division of First Chicago Bank. It was documented in 1987 by William Sahlman and Daniel Scherlis at Harvard Business School. It combines multiples and discounted cash flows.
The principle comes down to four steps:
- build three scenarios: favourable, base case and unfavourable;
- estimate the cash flows and an exit price for each, using a multiple;
- discount these amounts at the return required by the investor;
- weight each scenario by its probability, then add them up.
It is mainly used for growth companies whose track record is too thin for comparables. Applying a multiple to results that are still low would give a value that is too low in view of the prospects.
What do recent Swiss funding rounds show?
Swiss startups rarely publish their valuation, which makes local comparisons difficult. Three examples from October 2026 illustrate this.
- Zurich-based Enact Intelligence announced on 22 October 2026 a 30 million dollar pre-seed round, according to Startupticker.ch. Neither its valuation nor the stake given up has been published.
- Basel-based Nouscom closed a Series D of 135 million dollars. The press release gives neither the breakdown between investors nor the valuation.
- Lausanne-based Sonexos announced on 21 October 2026 a 5 million franc funding round at pre-Series A, led by Valquest Partners.
These amounts say nothing about the pre-money without the stake given up. A funding round is also different from an industrial partnership or a product launch: only a funding round brings in equity in exchange for shares. Other cases are gathered in our section on startup funding rounds.
To gauge the market, the Swiss Venture Capital Report by startupticker.ch and the SECA association is the reference. Each year it analyses Swiss financing rounds and lists the investments. One benchmark: in 2021, Swiss startups received a record 3.1 billion francs in venture capital.
Key figures
- 20%: stake of an investor who puts in 1 million francs at a 4 million pre-money (fictitious example).
- 64%: founders' stake after two rounds of 20% each (fictitious example).
- 1987: academic documentation of the venture capital method, known as First Chicago (Harvard Business School).
- 3.1 billion francs: record venture capital invested in Swiss startups, in 2021 (startupticker.ch).
- 30 million dollars: Enact Intelligence's pre-seed round in October 2026, valuation not published (Startupticker.ch).
What we don't know yet
- Median pre-money valuations per round in Switzerland: none of our sources puts a figure on them.
- Usual dilution levels per stage in the Swiss market: they do not appear in our sources.
- The valuations of Enact Intelligence, Nouscom and Sonexos: they have not been published.
A valuation remains a negotiated price, not a promise of returns. For a founder, what is at stake can be read in one line of the cap table: the stake they keep, round after round.
