Seed
The 2026 seed median pre-money through 30 September is $18.3M, up from $16.0M in 2025, on a median round of $3.0M, the one stage where round sizes did not climb. A $3.0M round at an $18.3M pre-money hands the investor about 14%. Any option pool expansion comes on top of that, and if it is carved out of the pre-money it dilutes you rather than the incoming investor, so settle the pool before you settle the headline. The AI-only seed median is $21.0M, but the report prints no non-AI seed figure, so there is no published premium to quote at this stage.
The option pool
The median seed round in 2026 is $3.0M (Venture Monitor Q3 2026). An option pool created or topped up inside the pre-money comes out of the existing holders, not the incoming investor, so every point of pool you agree to is a point of your own dilution that funds nothing operational. Put the pool size you are being asked for into the calculator on the home page and watch the required pre-money move.
Source
↗ https://nvca.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Q3-2026-PitchBook-NVCA-Venture-Monitor.pdfSource: PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q3 2026, as of 30 September 2026 (median pre-money and median deal value by series, p11; median AI pre-money by series, p16) · Verified 2026-10-17.