Founders - heads up that venture rounds have gotten a lot smaller over the past two years.
Some exceptions here, especially around seed rounds, but the overall trend is very clear.
Seed - $3.1M median in 2023 - Very little shift from 2022 or even 2021 (though of course fewer overall rounds)
Series A - $9.8M median in 2023 - Sweetspot is still between $10M and $24M, but a much larger share under $10M as well
Series B - $19.7M median in 2023 - Down from $30M in 2021 - First stage where the round size shrink really starts to pinch
Series C - $25M median in 2023 - Down significantly from the 2021 heyday of $60M - The $50M round became much more scarce at this stage this year
Series D - $35M median in 2023 (!) - 2021 companies got nearly $100M on a median basis - The disappearing $100M round share in this stage accelerated from 2022
Important to remember this analysis only shows primary round data. So all the confusion over bridges, convertibles, etc has been stripped away.
Incidentally, this chart doubles as an explanation of what's happening with the "dry powder" debate. All those billions can't be spent in these reduced primary rounds (reduced in both size and frequency). So it's going to go to bridges to current companies or continue sit on the sidelines.
Founders doing more with less these days!
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