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Multiples · Private companies

What buyers and investors pay for private companies

EV / Revenue across 6,900+ private-company exit and VC deals. Annual trends, 2015–2026.

01 · Segments

Multiples by segment

Median EV / Revenue by revenue growth, deal size, geography and sector.

Location
Sector
Exit rounds—
VC rounds—

Baseline cut: founded 1990+, $5M+ peak revenue, EV/Revenue ≤ 300×, "Outside Tech"-tagged rows excluded. —

02 · Historical multiples

Multiples by year, 2015–2026

Bottom quartile, median and top quartile per year. The shaded band is the inter-quartile range.

VC basis
View
Bottom quartile Median Top quartile
Exit rounds
—
VC rounds
—

By region

North America, Europe and Asia. Toggle median vs top quartile.

Exit rounds by region
2015–2026
VC rounds by region
2015–2026

AI vs non-AI

AI-tagged companies vs everything else. The premium opened up post-2020.

Exit rounds: AI vs non-AI
2015–2026
VC rounds: AI vs non-AI
2015–2026

SaaS and eCommerce & Marketplaces

Multiples by business model. Companies can belong to both groups.

Exit rounds by business model
2015–2026
VC rounds by business model
2015–2026

Bay Area vs Rest of US

US-only universe, split by Bay Area HQ vs the rest of the US.

Exit rounds: Bay Area vs Rest of US
2015–2026
VC rounds: Bay Area vs Rest of US
2015–2026

By round stage

Median pre-money EV / Revenue at funding, by stage.

Median EV / Revenue at funding, by stage
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03 · Methodology

Where the data comes from

One row per deal, from the Dealroom Multiples sheet.

Key facts

  • 6,924 private-company deals in the current public cut
  • 2,443 exit rounds and 4,481 VC rounds
  • Global coverage; segment totals include all recorded deal dates, while annual charts cover 2015–2026
  • Primary metric: EV / Revenue at exit or funding
  • Segment cuts include growth, deal size, geography, sector, SaaS, eCommerce & Marketplaces, AI, Bay Area and funding stage
  • Data refreshed 13 September 2026; sector and business-model groups can overlap

The multiple

Exit rounds use EV / Revenue at exit. VC rounds default to post-money EV / Revenue, with a toggle for pre-money. Quartiles are computed nearest-rank on the sorted list of multiples — no interpolation, so each quartile sits on a real deal.

Baseline filters

  • Founded 1990 or later
  • $5M+ peak revenue in the sheet's revenue history
  • EV / Revenue ≤ 300×
  • Tagged "Outside Tech" rows excluded

Track multiples across your portfolio

Dealroom's platform tracks EV / Revenue, ARR and revenue trajectories across 4M+ private companies. Use it to benchmark portfolio companies, pre-empt valuation conversations, and find the right comps.