How Much Cash Is Raised per Startup Round in 2023

How much cash is raised per startup round in 2023?

Data from 2,146 rounds on Carta so far this year. US companies only (apologies to our international audience).

Now, important note - about 35% of rounds happening this year on Carta have been bridge rounds (aka Extension rounds in the graphic). These are priced rounds that happen to be in the same series as the primary. Think things like "Seed Extension", "Series-A-2", etc.

Turns out, the distinction between a primary and an extension round matters quite a bit.

To the data:

Priced Seed Rounds

• $3.4 million median raised for primary

• $2.5M for extensions

• 3 out 4 priced seed rounds come in under $5 million raised

Series A

• $8.7M primary, $5M extension

• Really wide distribution - some Series A's raise $2M, some raise $22M

Series B

• $17.4M median primary raise

• Another wide distribution but weighted to the higher side

Series C

• $28.5M median primary raise

Series D

• $36.8M median primary raise

All of these dollar figures are considerably down from peak 2021 values. Back in the heyday, the median Series B was taking in $30M! Founders are definitely expected to do more with less now.

Hopefully these benchmarks give you a sense of how much your next round will raise, allowing you to map out a realistic runway path forward. Share with a fellow founder who's thinking of raising in the fall.

We have so much more data coming out over the next 6 weeks, it's tough to keep track of. Industry breakouts. Regional explorations. Reports on AI, seed-stage investing, startup compensation, secondary liquidity...frankly exhausting 😄

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