Startup Valuation Range
Value a recurring-revenue startup from ARR, growth, margin, and retention, benchmarked against comps you choose.
Example scenario—not a forecast or verified benchmark. Enable JavaScript to edit inputs, view charts, save locally and export your analysis.
Example inputs
- Annual recurring revenue (ARR)
- 3,000,000
- ARR growth, last 12 months
- 80
- Gross margin
- 72
- Net revenue retention (NRR)
- 105
- EBITDA / operating margin
- -35
- Burn multiple (net burn / net new ARR)
- 1.5
- Comparable company EV / ARR multiple
- 6
- Comparable companies' typical growth
- 25
- Private company / illiquidity discount
- 25
Example results
Estimated valuation: $17M–$29.4M (7.5x ARR vs 6x comps), driven most by growth vs comps.
- Valuation (midpoint)
- $22,607,208
- Implied EV / ARR
- 7.54x
- Low end
- $16,955,406
- High end
- $29,389,370
- Forward multiple (next-year ARR)
- 4.19x
- Rule of 40
- 45
- Next-year ARR at current growth
- $5,400,000
What stands out
Gross margin takes 0.3x off your multiple
That is about $896K of valuation at your ARR.
Growth vs comps adds 4x
Worth roughly $11.9M. Lead your fundraising narrative with it.
Net retention adds 0.4x
Worth roughly $1.2M. Lead your fundraising narrative with it.
Rule of 40 score: 45
Growth of 80% plus margin of -35%. Above 40 signals efficient growth.
Next actions
- Lead with your 105% net retention: it proves the product compounds without new sales spend.
- Show gross margin trend by cohort to prove margin holds as you scale.
- Bring the burn multiple from 1.5x toward 1x by cutting the least efficient acquisition channel before you raise.
- Replace the default comp multiple with a current index or 3-5 recent deals in your niche, then re-run.
Model assumptions & limitations
- Comparable multiple of 6x ARR and 25% comp growth are your inputs; the defaults are placeholders, not current market data.
- Rule of thumb adjustments: about 12% of multiple per 10 points of growth vs comps, 10% per 10 points of gross margin vs 75%, and 8% per 10 points of NRR vs 100%.
- A 25% private-company discount is applied for illiquidity and size.
- The range is -25%/+30% around the midpoint to reflect negotiating leverage and round dynamics.
- Pre-revenue and non-recurring businesses need different methods (scorecard, DCF, or earnings multiples).