Startup Runway Calculator
Runway is the number of months a company can keep operating at its current spending before the bank balance reaches zero. Founders, investors and landlords ask for it first, because hiring plans, fundraising and product launches all have to fit inside that window. The calculator converts cash, monthly spend and revenue into months left, a calendar date, and the burn rate driving both.
Enter values
Results
- Runway
- 30 months
- Monthly burn rate
- ₹4,00,000.00
- Date the money runs out
- 18 Apr 2029
- Runway in years
- 2.5 years
How is the Startup Runway calculated?
Enter the cash in the bank today, then the average monthly spend covering salaries, servers, rent and everything else that leaves the account. Subtract monthly revenue — money arriving from customers — and what remains is net burn. Cash divided by net burn gives months of runway, and the calculator projects today's date forward by that much time to show when the balance hits zero.
Formula
Monthly burn = Monthly spend − Monthly revenue. Runway in months = Cash balance ÷ Monthly burn, defined only while burn is positive. When revenue meets or beats spending the burn is zero or negative, no end date exists, and the calculator reports the company as cash-positive. The money-out date is today plus the runway, counted month by month.
Example
A company holds ₹1,20,00,000 in the bank and spends ₹9,00,000 a month while bringing in ₹5,00,000. Net burn is 9,00,000 − 5,00,000 = ₹4,00,000 a month, so runway = 1,20,00,000 ÷ 4,00,000 = 30 months, ending two and a half years from today. Lift revenue to ₹9,00,000 and the burn reaches zero, which is why the calculator switches to cash-positive instead of guessing a date.
Things to remember
Runway reacts faster to spending than to revenue: trimming ₹1,00,000 from a ₹4,00,000 monthly burn stretches 30 months to 40. Treat anything under a year as a signal to act — cut costs, pull fundraising forward or chase sales — and refresh the figures monthly, because one weak quarter can shorten the window.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is startup runway calculated?
Divide the cash you hold by the money you lose each month. With ₹1,20,00,000 in the bank and a net burn of ₹4,00,000 a month, runway is exactly 30 months. Net burn means spending minus revenue, so customer payments stretch the time you have left as directly as cost cuts do.
How much runway should a startup keep?
Twelve months is the usual comfort line, and six months is where investors start paying close attention. Fundraising itself takes three to six months, so begin raising while the counter still reads nine rather than waiting for pressure to show.
What does a negative runway mean?
A runway cannot go negative: once monthly revenue matches or beats spending, the calculation stops returning months and reports the company as cash-positive instead. What the inputs may reveal is that growth now funds itself, raising a different question — whether you still want outside cash.
How can we extend runway quickly?
Cut burn or pull revenue forward: renegotiate the largest monthly costs, delay non-critical hires, and ask customers for annual prepayments. On ₹4,00,000 of burn, removing ₹1,00,000 a month stretches 30 months to 40, so every small saving buys visible time.
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