Valuation Services for Startups & Scale-Ups
Get a clear, data-driven valuation for capital raising, share schemes or acquisitions. Backed by expert analysis, our valuations stand up to investor and HMRC scrutiny.
A solid valuation changes everything
Whether you’re raising a round, setting up a share scheme, or planning your exit – your valuation needs to do more than just give you a number. It needs to hold up when investors push back, satisfy HMRC if they come knocking, and give you a range you can actually negotiate from.
We handle the analysis, the methodology, and the paperwork. You get a clear, defensible valuation – delivered by experts who work with startups every day.
- Be investor-ready
- Negotiate confidently
- Startup valuations
- Employee share schemes
- CPA certified
Numbers that stood up to due diligence
"Closing our £2.5m round with Octopus Ventures was a huge milestone for HealsGood AI. Standard Ledger were instrumental throughout the process - helping us stay investor-ready, manage due diligence and present a clear financial story. They brought real structure and focus, which made a complex raise feel controlled and achievable. Having that level of financial leadership on our side gave us the confidence to move fast and negotiate from a position of strength."
Jack Henderson
Founder & CEO, HealsGood AI
Three situations, three different valuations.
An investor’s asked what you’re worth. Or you’re about to give your team share options. Or someone wants to buy the business. Each one needs a different valuation – and the number you land on has real consequences.
You're raising
Without your own number, you're negotiating from whatever the term sheet opens with. A valuation built on documented methodology gives you a range you can hold, and the reasoning to explain it when someone pushes back.
You're granting options
EMI schemes need a valuation agreed with HMRC before you grant anything. If the exercise price is later judged too low, your team can end up paying income tax on a gain they expected to be capital.
Your ownership is changing
A buyer's made contact, or a founder's leaving and their shares need valuing. These conversations move fast, and they go better when you already know what the business is worth.
Which valuation do you need?
Raising, issuing shares, or planning an exit – each calls for a different valuation. Find yours below.
Startup Valuation
- ✓Five-way valuation with financial projections
- ✓Detailed report with supporting explanations
- ✓Up to 2 reworks within one month if needed
- ✓Optional financial model review from £1,700
EMI Valuations
- ✓HMRC-approved valuation of your share options
- ✓Preparation and filing of paperwork with HMRC
- ✓Structured to benefit your employees on tax
Growth Share Valuation
- ✓Establishes a valuation hurdle for growth shares
- ✓Structured so shares have zero value at issue
- ✓Avoids tax complications for recipients
Not sure which you need? Get in touch and we’ll point you in the right direction.
A number you can stand behind.
Your valuation will get questioned – by an investor, by HMRC, or by someone on the other side of a deal. Ours are built so you’ve got an answer.
Five approaches, not one
Any single formula can be argued with. We run five valuation methods in parallel and look at where they converge, so what you're holding is a reasoned range rather than one person's opinion.
The workings stay visible
Every assumption is written down and explained. When an investor asks how you arrived at a figure, you can walk them through it rather than pointing at a report you didn't build.
Startup valuations, constantly
We work alongside Equidam, a leading global valuation provider, and we work with startups every day. You're not getting a generalist practice doing one of these a quarter.
Our valuation services in more detail
Startup valuations
Startup valuations are not an exact science. So it’s important to have a range you can confidently negotiate from.
Or maybe you’re an angel investor, after an independent view on the value of an early stage startup.
Either way, we work with leading global provider, Equidam, to deliver this service.
It includes:
- A detailed report with financial projections, five-way valuations and supporting explanations
- Reworking the report within one month (up to 2 iterations) if necessary
Pricing
- From £1,500 excluding financial model review
- From £1,700 including financial model review
Price can vary depending how much we need to prepare your financials for the valuation. We’ll talk this through with you first – no surprises.
Questions?
If you have questions about this service, please choose a time that suits to talk.
EMI valuations
An Enterprise Management Incentive scheme is a way to attract and retain talent to your startup by offering them share options in your company.
If you’d like to run one, you need to comply with regulations to be on the right side of HMRC and also to make sure your team members don’t get unnecessarily penalised on tax.
First up, you need a valuation approved by HMRC. This is essentially an agreement between you and HMRC about the price of the share option you can offer employees.
Then, if/when an employee decides to exercise their share options to convert them to actual shares, they have to pay the strike/exercise price per share, previously agreed with HMRC so they don’t get taxed.
With EMI valuations, you usually aim for a low company valuation that benefits employees. This is quite different from setting a company valuation for investors.
We’ll work with you to determine your EMI valuation, then prepare and file your paperwork with HMRC to receive the necessary approvals.
Pricing
- £1,700 for most EMI valuations
Price can vary depending how much we need to prepare your financials for the valuation. We’ll talk this through with you first though – no surprises.
Questions?
If you have questions about this service, please choose a time that suits to talk.
Growth share valuations
Growth shares are another way to incentivise your team.
They’re a special class of shares that only have a value if your company’s share price is above a particular hurdle. This means that other shareholders’ interests are only diluted if your company’s value exceeds that hurdle.
This means when you give someone growth shares, and you choose a hurdle that matches your company valuation today, the growth shares have zero value when they’re issued, thereby avoiding any tax issues.
So how do you set the valuation hurdle? That’s what we’re here for. We’ll walk you through the process and help you determine a valuation to establish a ‘hurdle rate’ for your company.
Pricing
- £1,500 for most growth share valuations
Price can vary depending how much we need to prepare your financials for the valuation. We’ll talk this through with you first though – no surprises.
Questions?
If you have questions about this service, please choose a time that suits to talk.
Founders on the numbers that mattered
“We wanted to plan an exit and needed someone to get us to the next level so we could realise the full value of our business. Standard Ledger handled the entire process. Negotiating a sale like that is intense. We would not have achieved the result we did without Standard Ledger’s commercial acumen and cool rational advice.”
Kerin Haddon
“Standard Ledger’s fractional CFO services identified KPIs driving operational improvements, making us an attractive acquisition target. Strategic exit planning structured our finances to maximise returns, and negotiating the complexities of the sale process secured us a deal that recognised our full value.”
Peter Neal
“Standard Ledger helped us with our cap table, financial projections and valuation. Through working with them, I’ve learnt to understand the numbers, which means I’m more empowered when talking to investors and suppliers.”
Shannon Gilleland
Need to manage your cap table?
Ready to move on from a spreadsheet for your cap table management? Our much-loved partner Vestd is your go-to choice!
Vestd offer a range of membership options to suit your needs, starting from a Lite package and extending to comprehensive share plan and cap table management services. They specialises in ensuring compliance for any type of share issues and schemes, taking the stress out of this complex process.
Get in touch today for more information.
Ready to find out what your startup is worth?
Make confident decisions with a clear, data-driven valuation. Whether it’s for fundraising, share schemes or exits, we’ll handle the numbers – so you can focus on growth.
Your valuation questions, answered
What's actually included in a startup valuation?
A detailed report with financial projections, a five-way valuation analysis and supporting explanations – so you’re not just handed a number, you’re handed the reasoning behind it. If something needs reworking once you’ve read it, that’s covered too: up to two iterations within a month.
What is a five-way valuation?
Instead of leaning on a single method, we run five different valuation approaches and look at where they land in relation to each other. Early-stage valuation isn’t an exact science, and a range built from several methods is far easier to defend than one number from one formula.
How much does a company valuation cost?
It comes down to how much preparation your financials need before we can start. We look at that first, agree a figure with you, and confirm it before any work begins – so there’s nothing that shifts halfway through.
Do my financials need to be in good shape before starting a valuation?
Not necessarily, and it’s rarely the blocker founders expect. Getting your numbers to a point where they can support a valuation is part of the job. How much work that takes is what shapes the quote, which is exactly why we talk it through with you before quoting.
Will investors accept your valuation?
A valuation’s real job is to give you a position you can hold. Ours are built on documented methodology with the workings visible, so when someone across the table pushes back, you can walk them through how you got there rather than just repeating the figure.
We're pre-revenue. Can you still value us?
Yes, and it’s a lot of what we do. Pre-revenue valuations use methods built around potential rather than trading history – a different exercise to valuing a business with years of accounts behind it. Plenty of our clients come to us at pre-seed and seed with very little to point at yet.
What's the difference between a startup valuation and an EMI valuation?
They’re separate services and they genuinely aren’t interchangeable. An EMI valuation goes to HMRC for approval and usually aims for a lower figure that works in your employees’ favour – the opposite of what you want when raising. Tell us what you’re trying to do and we’ll point you at the right one.
When does a startup need a valuation?
Earlier than most founders think. If you’re raising, issuing options or having conversations about equity, the valuation is the thing everything else depends on – so having it sorted before you need it puts you in a much stronger position than scrambling for one mid-process.