Interactive Tool

Angel return calculator

Model a single deal outcome. This shows what one exit scenario could return — remember that most angel investments return less than they returned here, which is why portfolio construction matters more than any single bet.

Your deal

Amount invested (US$)

Your ownership at investment (%)

Expected dilution by exit (%)

Exit valuation (US$)

Years to exit

Estimated outcome

Your ownership at exit: —
Your proceeds at exit: —
Multiple (MOIC): —
Annualized return (IRR): —

Illustrative only — does not account for liquidation preferences, taxes, fees or carry, or the fact that most angel investments return less than the capital invested. See our pitch red flags and angel investing basics for the realistic base rates behind these numbers.

Frequently asked questions

Why include a "dilution by exit" input?

Startups typically raise several more rounds between your check and an exit, each diluting earlier holders unless they exercise pro-rata rights. A 40–60% total dilution by exit is a common planning assumption for a company that raises multiple future rounds.

What is MOIC versus IRR?

MOIC (multiple on invested capital) is simply how many times your money came back, ignoring time. IRR (internal rate of return) annualizes that multiple based on how many years the money was tied up — a 5x MOIC over 3 years is a much higher IRR than a 5x MOIC over 10 years.

Is this a realistic model of typical angel returns?

No — this tool models a single successful exit scenario you define. In reality, most individual angel investments return less than the capital invested, and portfolio-level returns depend on one or two outsized winners covering many losses. See our angel investing basics page for that broader context.

Reading the result

MOIC and IRR answer different questions

MOIC tells you how many times your money came back; IRR tells you how fast. A 3x over eleven years and a 3x over four are the same multiple and completely different investments. Angel positions are long, so a respectable multiple frequently produces an unremarkable annualised return once the years are counted — which is precisely the comparison to make against whatever else that money could have done.

One deal is not a portfolio

This calculator models a single outcome, and single outcomes are not how this asset class behaves. A realistic angel portfolio has most positions returning nothing, a few returning capital, and its entire result determined by one or two. If you want an honest picture, run this calculator once for each position you plan to make over the next few years, assume most return zero, and see whether the survivors still produce a result worth the illiquidity.

What the model leaves out

It does not price the follow-on capital you may need to defend your ownership, the tax treatment of the eventual gain in your country, the possibility of a structured exit that pays preference holders first, or the years of no distributions in between. Each of those makes the real outcome worse than the model. Treat the number here as a ceiling on a good case, not a central expectation.