SaaS Startup Runway Calculator
Calculate runway against real saas benchmarks. The relevant benchmark here is 18-24 months at seed; 12-18 months at Series A.
Typical starting inputs
This page starts from $80,000/mo burn, $30,000/mo revenue, 78% gross margin, and 12% monthly growth — adjust them to match your books.
What SaaS founders should watch
- SaaS investors expect 18+ months of runway at any given time post Series A.
- Net revenue retention above 110% materially extends effective runway.
- Target a burn multiple under 2x — anything above 3x is a hard fundraising signal.
Burn multiple
For SaaS, burn multiple = net new ARR / net burn. Top-quartile seed companies operate at 0.5x-1.5x. Above 2.5x and the next round becomes very hard.
When to raise
Begin a Series A process when you have 9-12 months of runway, $1M+ ARR, and growing 3x year-over-year. Below those thresholds, extend runway first.
What usually goes wrong
- Sales-led ramps that haven't caught up to ramp time (>6 months).
- Net revenue retention dropping below 100%.
- Outsized engineering hiring before product-market fit.
Related free tools
Also try the startup runway calculator, the survival simulator, the default alive or default dead test, and the AI CFO — all free, no account required. When you're ready for live data and ongoing forecasts, sign up for FounderConsole.