Optimism! The time between startup rounds is finally trending back down.
Data from 9,843 rounds raised by US startups on Carta.
The green band in the chart below is the "standard advice" zone for traditional VC. It suggests that venture-backed companies should expect to raise a new round of funding every 18-24 months.
Black lines in each section reflect the median time (in years) between rounds. So in Q4 2025, the median time between Seed and Series A was 1.9 years.
Clearly the medians had been rising pretty quickly since 2021 ended. Lots of reasons why, but the primary factors were rising interest rates, funding collapsing, and a general risk-off air across VC.
But then AI happened and reinvigorated the market. Yet the median time between rounds kept rising even as the AI dollars flowed. Lots of reasons here too, including the concentration of capital into fewer companies and (potentially) startups actually just executing better and not needing new rounds as often.
But now the medians are dropping fast, back towards the traditional green band.
This is:
Good news for new companies, who may be able to map their burn rates and runway more easily.
Bad news for companies who got stuck. VCs seem more interested in funding a new crop of AI-native startups than backing the business who raised a Seed round 4 years back.
2026 kicking off right.
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