Post-Money Valuation

A company's value after outside financing and/or capital injections are added to its balance sheet. Post-money valuation refers to a company's valuation after funds, such as investments from venture capitalists or angel investors have been added to the balance sheet. Valuations that are calculated before these funds are added are called pre-money valuations. The post-money valuation, then, is equal to the pre-money valuation plus the amount of any new equity received from outside sources such as investors.

Investors such as venture capitalists and angel investors use pre-money valuations to determine the amount of equity they need to secure in exchange for any capital injection. For example, assume a company has a $100 million pre-money valuation. A venture capitalist puts $25 million into the company, creating a post-money valuation of $125 million (the $100 million pre-money valuation plus the investor's $25 million). In a very basic scenario, the investor would then have a 20% interest in the company, since $25 million is equal to one-fifth of the post-money valuation of $125 million.