For founders: here's a cheatsheet on the market for US startups rounds in Q1 2025.
Data details - this is a look at 730 rounds raised by US startups on Carta last quarter. We expect the total rounds to keep rising as more data comes in to the platform, full report on Q1 in early May.
Data only includes primary rounds, so no confusing figures from bridges/extensions.
𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀
First time we've seen the median priced seed round touch $20M in post-money valuation.
Yes, this data is heavily influenced by AI rounds. Probably 30-40% of early stage rounds are AI these days (and that might be even higher in late stage).
Non-AI companies ARE raising, but they are doing so more slowly at lower cash valuations (at Seed the difference is something like 35% higher for AI than non-AI).
Series A median valuations are just a tiny bit lower than they were in Q1 2022 which was the prior peak (not adjusted for inflation).
Series B, C, and D valuations have risen pretty consistently over the past 3 quarter or so but are still well off their 2022 peaks.
Dip in Series A dilution, which is typically 20% - I expect that's a quarterly quirk and it will settle back towards 20%.
We're minting unicorns in various stages again, not just late-stage. A few Series C and B unicorns have popped up so far this year.
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#startups #founders #venturecapital #fundraising #valuations
New startup data every. single. week. — https://lnkd.in/gNa_Dk-F
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