Pre-seed in Belgium: how much to raise, how much to give

A Belgian pre-seed usually sits between a few tens of thousands of euros and €250,000. It pays for proof that a market exists. The share you give up depends on two figures: the valuation, and the form of the money (shares, convertible loan or plain loan). At 20% per round, you keep 64% after the seed.

What is pre-seed, and where does seed begin?

Pre-seed pays for validation. Seed pays for going to market. The line is not drawn by the amount, it is drawn by the proof you bring to the next round.

The full picture of funding rounds is in our article on funding a start-up or a scale-up. Here, I stay with the first outside money.

How much should you raise at pre-seed?

The amount that takes you to the seed milestone, plus six months.

I start from spending, never from a figure heard at a conference. A built example: two founders on minimum pay, one developer, a prototype to have made, €12,000 a month. Over 18 months, that comes to €216,000. Rounded up, the round is €250,000. If the milestone needs 12 months, raising for 12 months means going back to investors the day the bank account is empty, and negotiating the seed under pressure.

An oversized pre-seed costs too. Every euro raised before the proof is paid for at the lowest valuation the company will ever have.

How much equity do you give up at pre-seed?

In shares, 10 to 20% is the range to aim for. Above 25%, the seed becomes hard to close.

The calculation never changes: the investor's share equals the amount raised divided by the valuation after the round. €250,000 raised on a €1M pre-money valuation gives €1.25M post-money, so 20% for the investor.

Dilution multiplies from one round to the next. With 20% at pre-seed and 20% at seed, founders keep 80% × 80% = 64%. With 30% at pre-seed, they keep 70% × 80% = 56%, and Series A is still to come. Eight points of capital lost in the first round never come back. Carta, which tracks the cap tables of thousands of start-ups, says it bluntly in an analysis dated 19 September 2025: selling 30% at pre-seed is far above the market median.

Who funds a pre-seed in Wallonia and Brussels?

Few players publish a ticket that fits. Here are those that do, with their instrument and area as they publish them.

Sources: the Startup Boost page of Wallonie Entreprendre, the Walloon Government press release of 27 August 2026 on the Coup de pouce loan, the FPS Finance (SPF Finances, the federal tax administration) and the finance&invest.brussels product brochure.

Two readings. In Brussels, the public ticket starts at €100,000: below that, it is family, friends and business angels. And ORSA, the site's partner, sits above pre-seed because of its ticket size; it becomes relevant at the next round, when the need exceeds €500,000. In Flanders, PMV has its own tools, outside the scope of this site.

Selection is real. In the first Startup Boost call, 92 applications were filed and 8 were selected, according to the press release of 17 June 2026.

Convertible loan or shares: what are you really giving up?

A convertible loan pushes the price question to the next round. It does not remove it, and two clauses decide the bill: the discount and the valuation cap.

A built example. You receive €100,000 as a convertible, the size of a Startup Boost. A year later, you raise €1M at seed on a €4M pre-money valuation (converted loan included). With a 20% discount alone, the lender converts at 80% of the seed price: they get 2.5% of the capital, and you keep 77.5%. With a cap set at €1M, they convert at the cap price, much lower: 7.3% for them, 72.7% for you. Same money, same round, a 4.8-point gap.

Had the same €100,000 come in as shares on a €500,000 post-money valuation, it would have taken 20% from day one. The convertible saves you equity only if the seed happens at a good price.

Startup Boost conversion terms are described as "standardised" but are not detailed on the public page: not published. Ask for the terms document before applying. Have these put in writing:

• the discount applied to the next round's price, as a percentage;
• the valuation cap, if any, and whether it is pre-money or post-money;
• the maturity, and what happens if no round takes place before it: repayment, forced conversion or extension;
• the minimum round size that triggers conversion.

A liquidation preference may also come with the shares received on conversion. Its effect on a sale price is set out in our article on liquidation preference.

Does the Coup de pouce loan dilute you?

No. It is a loan, made by a private individual close to you to your Walloon company, who remains a creditor.

The reform adopted on 27 August 2026 changed the figures. The lender's tax credit becomes 2.5% a year for the whole term of the loan, against 4% for the first four years before. The cap per lender falls from €125,000 to €75,000. The cap per company rises from €250,000 to €300,000. Four relatives at €75,000 each therefore cover the pre-seed in the example, without selling a single share. For each of them, in percentage terms, that is €1,875 of tax credit a year.

The downside: it has to be repaid. Before market proof, it is a bet on your ability to repay people close to you.

Does the tax shelter make a business angel cheaper?

For them, yes. For you, not directly. A business angel who subscribes €25,000 of shares in a micro-company under 4 years old gets 45%, or €11,250, back on their income tax. Their net outlay falls to €13,750. The share of capital they receive is still the one set by the valuation. Caps and conditions are covered in our article on the start-up and scale-up tax shelter.

When should you move to seed?

When the pre-seed milestone is reached and at least six months of cash remain.

Your situation, the lead to follow

To place the funds that come in at the next round, the ranking of investment funds for SMEs lists their dated tickets and instruments. And if you are already preparing the team's options, read our guide to stock options and warrants: a pool created before the seed dilutes the founders, not the investor.