Seed Round Valuations and Amounts Differ Significantly by State

Friday Q&A: what does a seed round mean in different states?

Tip of the hat to John L Seamans for this question. If you'd like your own question answered next week (from the deep Carta data sets), ask it in the comments!

So - does it matter where I raise my seed round?

Short answer: yes.

On the map below, the number next to the state abbreviation is the round count and the bold figure is the median valuation.

Median pre-money valuations in California were $15M in the last 6 months or so. In Texas, similar rounds went for $14M. In New Jersey, it drops to $12M.

And the valuation isn't the only factor. Median round sizes are also higher in CA and NY. For instance, the median seed round in CA raise about 2.5x as much money as the median seed in Colorado.

Deep networks are hard to beat. However, industry vertical matters quite a lot. Biotech raises in MA seed rounds actually came in at higher valuations than those in the Bay Area.

Bottom line: you don't have to be in Silicon Valley to raise your seed round. But you should adjust your expectations heading into fundraising conversation to your local ecosystem.

John, hope this helps! Sorry we didn't dig into healthtech in particular.

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