How to Log a Startup Markup After a Funding Round

When a portfolio company hits a Cognition-class raise, the feed updates before your documents do. Learning how to log a startup markup after a funding round is the difference between a clean ledger and a spreadsheet that quietly rebases your cost. A press mark is not a cash event. You update valuation and MOIC fields. You never overwrite the original wire or the SAFE or preferred row that funded the seat.

This is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Raziel Inc. does not provide it. Round sizes and valuations cited below are attributed to press; treat them as sourced headlines, not filings you verified yourself.

What is a startup markup

A startup markup is your internal update to a private company’s valuation after a later round prices new preferred (or otherwise resets the last known mark). It answers “what is this position worth on my book today,” not “did cash hit my account.” Mark up private company valuation only against positions you already hold. New capital you did not wire is not your cost.

Recent AltList examples of marks that land in a feed before docs include Cognition AI’s $2B Series E at a $48B valuation (Reuters, Sep 8, 2026), Harvey’s $550M raise at a $15.5B valuation (Artificial Lawyer, Sep 9, 2026), and Mistral AI’s about €3B raise above €21B (Bloomberg, Sep 8, 2026). Those headlines are useful signals. They are not settlement packets. See the operator scan on AltList: private markets week of Sep 9, 2026.

When to update vs when to wait for docs

Update a provisional mark when (1) a named outlet or the company reports a priced round, (2) you already hold an instrument in that issuer, and (3) you can name the source URL and date on the row. Wait for docs before changing ownership %, converting a SAFE, or booking cash. Cap table notices, side letters, and wire receipts beat a screenshot of a headline.

If the round is rumored but unconfirmed, leave the last agreed mark. Do not invent a midpoint. If you hold via an SPV, wait until the lead or vehicle updates your interest; your K-1 and capital account still come from the vehicle, not from the company’s press page. For SAFE seats, keep the note row intact until conversion docs arrive. See how to track SAFE notes after you wire and how to track SAFE conversion.

Keep cost basis (never rebase the wire)

Cost basis is what you paid (and when), not the new preferred price. When you log a startup markup:

• Keep the original wire date and cash amount on the parent row.

• Keep the instrument type (SAFE, preferred, common, SPV interest).

• Add or update a separate mark field: as-of date, source, and post-money or share price cited.

• Do not overwrite quantity with a made-up share count from a blog post.

Rebasing cost to the new round price destroys MOIC, tax lots, and any later secondary math. If only part of a position later sells in a tender, you still need the original cost on the leftover. The markup sits beside cost. It does not replace it.

MOIC after a mark

After a mark, paper MOIC is roughly current mark value divided by remaining cost on that position (or on the vehicle’s attributable cost if you sit in an SPV). Unrealized MOIC moves when the mark moves. Realized MOIC only moves when cash (or in-kind stock) actually settles out.

Worked shape, not a promise: if you wired $50,000 into a SAFE and a later round implies a $200,000 mark on your claim, paper MOIC is 4.0x until something distributes. That 4.0x is not a distribution. Do not book income. Do not delete the SAFE row and invent preferred shares because a journalist wrote “converted.” Conversion is a document event. Markup is a valuation event.

Common spreadsheet mistakes

The failure modes repeat every mega-round week:

• Treating a press mark as a cash credit in the bank column.

• Overwriting cost basis with the new preferred price.

• Deleting the SAFE or preferred parent when only a mark changed.

• Collapsing SPV and company into one cell so fees and carry disappear.

• Updating ownership % from a round size without a cap table notice.

• Copying another angel’s mark without recording your source and as-of date.

Net-worth apps that show one “private company” line make these mistakes easy. An operator ledger keeps instrument, cost, mark, and source as separate fields so a Cognition- or Harvey-class headline cannot silently rewrite history.

Log the markup in Raziel

Raziel’s startup tracker is built for the investor book: cash dates, SAFE or ownership terms, documents, and marks without rebasing the wire. After you see a round on AltList, open the position, attach the source, update the mark, leave cost alone, then wait for conversion or settlement docs before changing the instrument. Start free at https://app.raziel.co/sign-up.

Next step when the round is real and the PDF arrives: reconcile the mark to the notice, then decide whether anything converts. Until then, the job is simple. Log the markup. Keep the row.