How VC Round Sizes Evolved From Pre-Pandemic to Now

The evolution of VC round sizes from pre-pandemic to now.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻, 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 (𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻)

Primary = first round in any stage, typically with a new lead investor.

Bridge = second round in the same named stage, typically from current investors.

Seed includes both priced seed rounds and any round on SAFEs that raised $2M or more.

Data says:

𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱

• $3.5M median for a primary Seed today - up 54% from 2019

• $2.7M median for a bridge Seed (very close to primary - why would that be? Hmmm...)

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔

• $9.7M median primary and $5M bridge

• Primary is up 21% from 2019

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗕

• $23.9M primary and $6M bridge

• Also up 20% for primaries from pre-pandemic

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗖

• $26M primary is down 15% from 2019

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗗

• $45M primary is down 10% from 2019

Bridges continue to raise less than half as much as primary rounds, a pattern that's held true in most stages and across most years (save for Seed).

Two other considerations:

1. Raising rounds remains rough - so while these are pretty healthy cash values for early-stage rounds, not as many companies are successfully completing their fundraises as say in 2022.

2. Time between the primary rounds has lengthened, so founders will likely need to make this cash last for longer than anticipated. Plan accordingly!

Shout out in the comments if you want data on how your specific industry has evolved 🙏