US seed valuations for AI-native startups
How much more an AI-native company gets at seed in the US, at the bottom, middle and top of the market.
- Data as of Q2 2026
- Updated 20 August 2026
- Sources: Carta
At a glance
- Median pre-money, AI-native
- $18.6M
- Excluding foundation-model companies
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Top quarter, AI-native
- $32.3M
- 75th percentile pre-money
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Bottom quarter, AI-native
- $11M
- 25th percentile pre-money
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Median for everyone else
- $18.4M
- Pre-money, excluding AI-native
- Carta, Q1 2026
- Median dilution
- 19%
- All seed rounds
- Carta, Q1 2026
What the numbers say
At seed, being AI-native adds little in the US. The median AI-native round was priced at $18.6M pre-money, against $18.4M for everyone else.
The spread is similar too: a quarter of AI-native rounds were priced below $11M, and a quarter above $32.3M. An AI company asking well above that range needs a reason beyond the label, such as revenue, a technical edge, or a team that has built one before.
Carta's split leaves out foundation-model companies, whose seed rounds are priced far higher. At the median, a seed round sold about 19% of the company.
The full tables
| Companies | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-money, excluding AI-native | $10M | $18.4M | $32.2M | — |
| Pre-money, AI-native | $11M | $18.6M | $32.3M | — |
| Post-money, all companies | — | $21.6M | — | $78.8M |
Pre-money rows are Carta's quartiles; the all-company row is post-money, with its median and 90th percentile.
Sources: Carta, State of Private Markets: Q1 2026
- Seed and Series A figures are Carta's for Q1 2026, its latest. The AI-native split leaves out foundation-model companies, whose rounds are far larger. The all-company figures are post-money: they include the new money.
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