2023 In Review | US seed-stage startup fundraising by industry
Founders can use this data to rightsize their seed rounds starting in 2024.
Here's the breakout from over 1,000 priced seed rounds completed by Carta companies this past year - we only included primary seed rounds (so no extensions, seed +, etc). The data is also limited to US startups, though we hope to put out global benchmarks next year if things go well!
In 2023...
𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼:
Gaming startups ($18M median pre-money)
Web3 (whoa)
HR
Transportation
Media
𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼:
Adtech ($7.3M median pre-money)
Med Devices
Personal Products
Food
𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗧𝗼:
Renewable Energy startups ($4.8M median cash raised)
Gaming
Cybersecurity
Media
HR
𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗧𝗼:
Med Devices
Adtech
Personal Products
Food
Social
As usual, the aggregated SaaS category took the most rounds with 327. The industries with high activity also included Healthtech, Fintech, Biotech, and Hardware.
As the "low" lists show, there are certain industries that feel less and less venture-fundable these days. DTC, Personal Products, and Food are on the outs.
Total primary seed rounds fell by about 38% from 2022. Not as bad as the other parts of the venture ecosystem, but no walk in the park either.
More 2023 recaps to come throughout the holidays - follow along by hitting the 🔔 or signing up for our Carta Data Minute newsletter at the link in graphic!
#cartadata #seedstage #founders #startups #fundraising
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