Calculate founder dilution across a funding round including an option pool.
Dilution compounds multiplicatively across the option pool and the new investment. Whether the pool comes from pre-money materially changes who bears its cost, which is why it is a negotiated point. The option pool shuffle is often overlooked, yet a ten per cent pre-money pool costs founders more than a two point increase in the investor's stake.
Cap Table Dilution
Post-round ownership = current × (1 − pool dilution) × (1 − investor share)
Post-round ownership = current × (1 − pool dilution) × (1 − investor share) Dilution compounds multiplicatively across the option pool and the new investment. Whether the pool comes from pre-money materially changes who bears its cost, which is why it is a negotiated point.
The option pool shuffle is often overlooked, yet a ten per cent pre-money pool costs founders more than a two point increase in the investor's stake.
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Your current ownership, Pre-money valuation, New investment, New option pool created, Option pool taken from pre-money. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.