UK pre-money valuations by round size: quartiles since 2024
Pre-money valuation is the value of a company before a round's new money. Bradshaw works it out from the filing as the price per share times the shares in issue before the round, so the figure counts shares that exist and leaves out unissued options. Fully diluted figures, the basis most announcements use, read higher.
Valuation by round size
| Cash raised | Rounds | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Median share sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £100k to £250k | 1,124 | £953k | £1.89m | £4.19m | 8.3% |
| £250k to £500k | 1,045 | £1.48m | £2.82m | £6.34m | 11% |
| £500k to £1.00m | 915 | £2.38m | £4.50m | £9.56m | 13% |
| £1.00m to £3.00m | 1,267 | £4.44m | £8.39m | £18.0m | 17% |
| £3.00m to £10.0m | 886 | £8.39m | £16.8m | £33.3m | 23% |
| £10.0m and over | 625 | £14.0m | £50.4m | £140m | 27% |
The median climbs with every band, from £1.89m for the smallest rounds to £50.4m for the largest. Median share sold is the cash raised divided by the post-money valuation, which is how much of the company the round sold. It rises from 8.3% in the smallest band to 27% in the largest. Larger rounds therefore raise more cash and also sell a bigger part of the company.
Each step up in round size multiplies the median valuation by between 1.5x and 3.0x. The jump is steepest at the top, where rounds of £10.0m or more are valued at £50.4m at the median against £16.8m for the band below. Valuation grows more slowly than the cash raised, which is why the share of the company sold rises with size.
To place a round, find its band and compare its pre-money with the quartiles for that band. A value below the lower quartile is in the lowest quarter of rounds of that size, and a value above the upper quartile is in the highest quarter.
The spread inside a band
Each band is wide. In the £500k to £1.00m band, the middle half of rounds runs from £2.38m to £9.56m. In the largest band the middle half runs from £14.0m to £140m, a range of several times between the lower and upper quartile.
Round size alone therefore does not fix a valuation. A company raising £1.00m to £3.00m can sit anywhere from £4.44m to £18.0m before the new money, depending on the company and the terms. That is why the table gives quartiles and not a single typical number.
Has it moved since 2024?
| Allotment year | Rounds | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2,245 | £1.98m | £5.89m | £16.6m |
| 2025 | 2,208 | £2.04m | £6.02m | £18.0m |
| 2026 to date | 1,409 | £2.12m | £5.87m | £20.0m |
Download the yearly table (CSV)
The median pre-money was £5.89m for 2024, £6.02m for 2025 and £5.87m for 2026 so far. The middle of the market has stayed close to the same level, while the upper quartile has risen from £16.6m to £20.0m. The lower quartile has edged up from £1.98m to £2.12m.
Based on Companies House share allotment filings read by Bradshaw.
How Bradshaw reads a funding round from a share allotment filing
Questions and answers
What is a typical pre-money valuation for a UK startup round?
It depends on the size of the round. Across 5,862 UK priced rounds the median pre-money valuation was £5.92m, and half of the rounds sit between £2.02m and £18.0m. The median is £1.89m for rounds of £100k to £250k and £50.4m for rounds of £10.0m or more. The spread inside each size band is wide. Data to 28 Oct 2026.
What does issued-share basis mean?
It means the valuation is the price per share times the shares that exist before the round. Options and shares not yet issued are left out, so the figure is lower than a fully diluted valuation.
How is pre-money valuation calculated from a filing?
Bradshaw takes the price per share from the highest priced line of the return of allotment of shares and multiplies it by the shares in issue before the round. The working is shown for every round.
How much of a company does a UK funding round usually sell?
The median share sold, calculated as cash raised divided by post-money valuation, is 8.3% for rounds of £100k to £250k and 27% for rounds of £10.0m or more. Larger rounds sell a bigger part of the company than smaller ones. Data to 28 Oct 2026.