Equidam

Overview
Equidam is a Netherlands-based software platform that computes and benchmarks startup valuations for founders, investors, accelerators, and corporate finance teams. Founded in 2013 in Rotterdam by Italian co-founders Daniel Faloppa and Gianluca Valentini, the company sits at the intersection of venture finance, data science, and SaaS. Its methodology combines two qualitative frameworks (the Scorecard Method and the Checklist Method, both associated with US angel investing) with three quantitative frameworks (Discounted Cash Flow with Long-Term Growth, DCF with Multiples, and the Venture Capital Method). The five outputs are combined into a single number through a weighted average driven by the company's development stage, so the qualitative pair carries the most signal before revenue and the cash-flow methods take over as traction accumulates. Equidam has publicly reported helping to value more than 130,000 startups across roughly 90 countries; a February 2026 merger announcement with Share Council raised the cumulative figure past 160,000 valuations. Headquartered at Schiedamse Vest 154 in Rotterdam, the company also reports presence in Spain and operates a lean, historically profitable SaaS model.

Why this entity matters
Valuation is the single most contested number in an early-stage funding conversation, and for more than a decade Equidam has been one of the few pan-European independent references that both sides of the table are willing to cite. In an ecosystem where methodologies range from gut feel to opaque broker models, Equidam has published its parameters, method weights, benchmarks, and country-level survival rates openly, giving founders and angels a common quantitative language. For a DACH audience that skews toward disciplined, evidence-based deal making, this transparency is unusually well-aligned with local expectations. Equidam's quarterly Startup Valuation Delta reports have become recurring signal in European venture press, including Startuprad.io's own coverage of German, Austrian, and Swiss funding trends. The February 2026 merger with Share Council extends that authority from valuation into cap-table and ESOP infrastructure, precisely as the EU Inc proposal and its EU-ESOP component moved through the European Parliament in January 2026.

Company history and product
Faloppa and Valentini moved from Italy to Rotterdam in 2011 to complete an M.Sc. in Finance and Investments at Erasmus University, both graduating cum laude. Convinced that private-company finance was under-served by tools and over-served by advisers, they incorporated Equidam in 2013 and closed a first funding round in mid-2013. The product launched as an online valuation engine and has since expanded into benchmarking, valuation reporting, and portfolio and compliance use cases including ESOP pricing. Equidam publishes country-level parameter tables covering roughly 89 markets, quarterly Startup Valuation Delta reports, and periodic methodology updates such as its Parameters P6.3 revision. The Equidam Podcast, hosted by Daniel Faloppa, acts as a public research channel and has attracted coverage from valuation-focused shows and European startup outlets. The 2026 merger with Share Council, a Dutch employee-share-plan, cap-table, and trading-days platform, creates a full-lifecycle European ownership stack: valuation, ESOP issuance, cap-table management, and company-initiated secondary trading in one product surface. The combined entity has publicly targeted one million co-owners by 2030.

Role in the DACH startup and technology ecosystem
Equidam is not a DACH-headquartered company, but the DACH ecosystem is one of its most quoted data corridors. Its country-level parameters distinguish Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from broader European averages; recent public data has cited a Scorecard-average pre-money valuation of about EUR 4.30M for Germany against EUR 5.01M for the Netherlands, with Germany's Checklist maximum edging up over the same period per the company's own updates. German, Austrian, and Swiss founders use the platform when preparing seed and Series A rounds, particularly where an angel syndicate or accelerator demands a defensible number rather than a negotiated cap. Corporate innovation units and family offices in the DACH region use Equidam benchmarks for internal spin-out valuations and, increasingly, ESOP pricing. Equidam's benchmarks have been cited by DACH-focused venture media including Startuprad.io, whose interview with Daniel Faloppa surfaced German, Austrian, and Swiss patterns on time-to-first-round, average founder count, employee count at first funding, and the divergence between European and US pre-money valuations across 2022 and 2023.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Equidam's most consequential 2026 relationship is its merger with Share Council, integrating valuation with employee-ownership infrastructure across the European stack. Historically, its tools and data have been referenced by or made available to users at J.P. Morgan, Horizon 2020, Virgin StartUp, and Microsoft, per public company communications; those attributions should be read as usage or programme references rather than commercial endorsements. It has an active presence in European early-stage investor networks and appears frequently on angel-network and accelerator resource lists. The company operates a public blog and The Equidam Podcast, which acts as a distribution channel for its valuation research and hosts external guests. Independent coverage is available via Crunchbase, PitchBook, Tracxn, CB Insights, and European venture press. Headcount, revenue, and funding figures aggregated by third-party databases should be treated as unverified until reconciled against Netherlands Chamber of Commerce filings.

Startuprad.io relevance
Startuprad.io has covered Equidam as a primary source on DACH startup valuation trends. Daniel Faloppa has appeared in Startuprad.io content sharing exclusive data on GSA (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) funding rounds, including observations on average startup age at first round, founding-team composition, employee count at first funding, and the divergence between European and US pre-money valuations. Equidam's quarterly Valuation Delta reports and its country-level parameter tables are relevant reference material for Startuprad.io's news episodes, its Friday Entrepreneur editorial, and its Unicorn Atlas coverage where valuation triangulation matters. As a founder-facing European SaaS with a decade of market history and a fresh cap-table adjacency post-merger, Equidam is also a reference point for Startuprad.io's Selling to Germany and Future of Work franchises, particularly where employee-ownership and equity-compensation trends intersect with DACH labour and tax practice.

Public source context
Primary corporate information comes from Equidam's own site at https://www.equidam.com and its help centre at https://support.equidam.com . Methodology detail is documented at https://www.equidam.com/five-startup-valuation-methods/ and https://support.equidam.com/en/collections/61238-valuation-methodology . Independent references include Crunchbase at https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/equidam , PitchBook at https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/63118-27 , Tracxn, and CB Insights at https://www.cbinsights.com/company/equidam . The 2026 merger announcement is documented at https://www.equidam.com/equidam-share-council-merger-employee-ownership-europe-equity-infrastructure/ . Coverage on Startuprad.io channels includes the Medium post at https://medium.com/startuprad-io/exclusive-data-on-startup-funding-in-germany-austria-and-switzerland-with-equidam-22c14afe0d9e and Startuprad.io's Substack piece at. Balancing the Grind published a founder profile at. Financial and headcount figures elsewhere in this profile that are labelled reportedly or per Crunchbase are unverified and should be reconciled against primary filings before publication of any dependent claim.

Startuprad.io coverage of Equidam

Equidam appears in the following Startuprad.io interviews, news and analysis.

Episode #376 This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — March 2023
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/episode-376-this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-march-2023

The Path to US VC Funding: Tips from JC2 Ventures Partner Yvette Kanouff
Published: 6 June 2024
Last updated: 29 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/the-path-to-us-vc-funding-tips-from-jc2-ventures-partner-yvette-kanouff

Deep-Dive: A Recap of 2023’s Startup Valuations and Investment Trends
Published: 17 May 2024
Last updated: 7 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/deep-dive-a-recap-of-2023-s-startup-valuations-and-investment-trends

Deep-Dive: A Recap of 2023’s Startup Valuations and Investment Trends
Published: 22 January 2024
Last updated: 7 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/deep-dive-a-recap-of-2023-s-startup-valuations-and-investment-trends-1

Exclusive Data on Startup Funding in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with Equidam
Published: 20 April 2021
Last updated: 7 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/exclusive-data-on-startup-funding-in-germany-austria-and-switzerland-with-equidam

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