Step-Up
Private Credit glossary · Underwriting & Credit Analysis
Definition
Increase in share price or valuation between successive funding rounds.
Step-Up in plain English
When a startup raises money, it sells a slice of itself to investors at an agreed price per share. A step-up is simply how much that price (or the company's overall valuation) climbs between one fundraising round and the next — like your baseball card being worth $10 last year and $40 this year. A big step-up signals the company grew more valuable and investors are willing to pay more; a flat or falling price ('down round') signals the opposite. It's a quick scoreboard for whether a company is gaining or losing momentum.
Practice Step-Up
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