What are the average raise rounds for startups over the past 5 years?

Carta put together a collection of data on how startups have raised capital at different rounds

There is a rising enterprise value for startups getting funded over time as the returns from startup investing is getting more predictable. It is important for founders and investors to know the industry trends to see if they are beating or underperforming against peers in the industry.

Median cash raised at Seed round startups over past 6 years

Median post money valuation for Seed round startups over past 6 years

Median cash raised at Series A startup rounds over the past 6 years

Median post money valuation for Series A startup rounds over the past 6 years

Median percent of startup equity sold by rounds

Median percent of startup equity given up at Series A rounds

Days between primary startup financing by series A

Some take aways:

• raise enough to 5–10x revenue over the next year
• when you are talking about venture, its a game of velocity
• benchmark — founders are giving away 20% on average at each round
• larger valuations are less about ARR and month-over-month growth
• institutional funds are trying to get 10–20% in equity in a business for VC fund economics to make sense on exit
• founders are owning more of the company as valuation and its
• there is 15 M of unallocated venture capital as of April 2021
• try to find a perfect market fit between an investor that is set up for you and your stage
• find the multi-billion companies in your market, and find the investors behind them and target them
• venture debt should be saved for post series A and be backed with tangible revenue for debt interest recollection to be worth it
• founders raise capital for 12–18 months of runway
• when pitching to investors, talk about how you are using the money to 4x or 6x revenue with the capital invested

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