Funding Goal Calculator
Size your round from real numbers: burn, milestone timeline, one-time costs and a buffer for surprises.
How much to raise
$1,312,500
Total = (monthly burn × months to milestone) + one-time costs, plus a buffer for surprises and delays. Raising less means going back to investors sooner; the buffer exists so one bad quarter does not force a rushed round.
Educational estimate, not legal or financial advice.
How it works
Size your round in 3 steps
Enter your expected monthly burn after the raise.
Enter how many months you need to reach your next milestone, plus any one-time costs.
Set a buffer for delays (25% is a sensible default).
Worked example
18 months at $80K a month
Inputs
- Monthly burn
- $80,000
- Months to milestone
- 18
- One-time costs
- $60,000
- Buffer
- 25%
Result
- Base need
- $1,500,000
- Buffer
- $375,000
- Funding goal
- $1,875,000
Raise about $1.9M to reach the milestone with room for delays.
How we got there
You expect to burn $80,000 a month for 18 months to reach your Series A milestone, plus $60,000 in one-time costs. That is $1,500,000. Add a 25% buffer and your funding goal is $1,875,000, so you would raise about $1.9 million.
Reading your result
Is your round the right size?
Good sign
18 to 24 months of runway to one clear milestone.
Red flag
A round sized to what investors offer, not to what the plan needs.
The right round size is a bridge to your next milestone, not the most an investor will give you. Raise too little and you are fundraising again before you have proof. Raise too much and you give away more of your company than you needed to.
The buffer matters because almost everything takes longer than planned, including the next fundraise itself.
FAQ
How much to raise: founder questions
Enough for 18 to 24 months of runway to reach the milestone that unlocks the next round.
A clear proof point the next investors want to see, such as a revenue level, growth rate or product launch.
Hiring, sales and fundraising almost always take longer than expected. A buffer stops a delay from becoming a crisis.
It costs you extra dilution and can raise expectations you then have to meet. A clear plan is more convincing than a big number.
Yes. A specific number with a clear breakdown builds far more trust than a vague range.