A business valuation tells you what your company, your shares, or a stake in it is really worth - for a raise, an ESOP, a sale, a shareholder exit, or a big decision you cannot afford to get wrong. KayOne gives founder-led companies in India an independent number and the reasoning behind it, built by operators who have run real finance functions and sat across the table in real deals. Not a spreadsheet you cannot defend - a valuation that stands up to an investor, an acquirer, an auditor, or a court.
Business valuation is the process of estimating what a company, its shares, or a stake in it is worth at a point in time. It combines three lenses - what the business earns (income), what similar businesses sell for (market), and what it owns net of debt (asset) - into a defensible number and a range. Founders need it for a fundraise, an ESOP grant, an acquisition or sale, a shareholder exit or dispute, or simply to make a large decision with a real number instead of a guess.
Our valuation engagements cover the full arc, not just the model: understanding why you need the number and who will scrutinise it, cleaning and normalising your historical financials, building or pressure-testing the forecast, applying the right methods for your stage and sector, reconciling them into a value range, and producing a written report that stands up under challenge.
The purpose changes everything. A number built to anchor a fundraise is argued differently from one built for an ESOP grant, a shareholder exit, or a court dispute. We start from the use case and the audience, then choose the method - not the other way round.
A defensible pre-money number and the story behind it, so you walk into the round with an anchor instead of taking the term sheet's word for it.
Fair value for ESOP grants and, for US-linked plans, a 409A - clean, documented, and ready for your auditor and your team.
What a target is really worth before you bid, or what your company should command before you sell - with the assumptions laid bare.
An independent number when a partner joins, leaves, or disagrees - the kind that settles the conversation instead of starting a fight.
A fair, arms-length value for a generational transition or an internal transfer, so the handover is built on a real number.
Before a large, irreversible bet, a valuation that tells you what the business is worth today and what the decision does to it.
Most credible valuations triangulate all three and reconcile them into a range. The right weighting depends on your stage, profitability, and industry.
| Income approach (DCF) | Market approach (multiples) | Asset approach | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Present value of future cash flows | Value from comparable companies & deals | Net assets, at fair value |
| Best for | Profitable, predictable businesses | Startups, sectors with clear comparables | Asset-heavy or holding companies |
| Key inputs | Forecast, discount rate, terminal value | Revenue / EBITDA multiples, ARR | Balance sheet, asset revaluation |
| Strength | Grounded in the company's own economics | Reflects what the market actually pays | Simple, hard to argue with on assets |
| Watch-out | Only as good as the assumptions | Comparables are rarely a perfect match | Ignores earning power & goodwill |
Dig deeper into the mechanics in our guide to the methods of valuation of shares, or see how early-stage companies are valued in how startups are valued.
Why you need the number, who will scrutinise it, and the standard of value it has to meet - the whole engagement flows from this.
Clean historicals, adjust for one-offs and owner items, and get to the true earning power the valuation should rest on.
A forecast we can defend, stress-tested against your market reality rather than a straight line up and to the right.
DCF, market multiples, and asset-based as relevant - then reconciled into a value and a range, with the weighting explained.
A written valuation with the reasoning laid out, built to stand up to an investor, an acquirer, an auditor, or a court.
Our valuations are built by people who have run finance functions and been in real raises and deals - so the number survives contact with a counterparty.
Anyone can output a multiple. We give you the assumptions, the range, and the defence - because that is what protects you when someone pushes back.
We are not selling you the deal the valuation supports. The number is the number, whether it helps the story or complicates it.
Different businesses, different value drivers. We have run the numbers across the sectors that define founder-led India.
ARR and recurring-revenue multiples, retention and cohort quality, runway and forward potential - valued the way investors actually price software.
Unit economics, contribution margin, channel mix, and brand value - separating profitable growth from growth that only looks good on top line.
Asset base, capacity, working-capital cycles, and earnings power - reconciling asset value with what the business actually earns.
People-dependent earnings, client concentration, and normalised owner compensation - the adjustments that make or break a services valuation.
Senior finance judgment, embedded in founder-led companies across India and beyond.
KayOne brings a true partnership approach to our organization, and the founders consider them as a part of the leadership team. We have totally entrusted our finance - not just accounting - woes to them.
The main ways shares and companies are valued, and when each applies.
Read the guide →Valuing a company on forward potential when it is not yet profitable.
Read the guide →Grant-date option value and share value at exercise, signed by a registered valuer.
See the service →Why a fair, independent number matters in a succession or transfer.
Read the guide →What to prepare before a valuation, so the number is defensible.
Read the guide →A free EBITDA-multiple range for your business, in about a minute.
Use the calculator →A short, structured exchange. Tell us why you need the valuation and what is riding on it. We will give you a straight answer on whether KayOne is the right fit - and if we are not, we will tell you that too.
See If We're a FitFree · Straight answer · No pitch
