What happened to US SaaS companies over the past 24 months?
Obviously this is a question that has several answers, some of which take into account global instability, interest rate changes, and profound technological shifts.
But we'll stick to valuations and fundraising.
You could make the case that in the chart above, the most salient factor is the round count on the far right. Fewer SaaS companies are raising primary rounds, full stop.
But I was struck by the way the distribution of valuation for both years was essentially frozen at early-stage and substantially changed in late-stage.
Effectively there is a floor under priced seed round valuations, where some combination of deal competitiveness, fund economics, and distance from IPO together created a stubborn median of $13M.
The major story at later stages is a retreat from the highest part of the scale, where the share of rounds valued at over half a billion dollars was sharply reduced. Investors just didn't touch the top part of the range with the same regularity.
Feeling optimistic that the seed SaaS rounds in particular are in for a better 2024. Now if we can just get an IPO or two in the works!
Next up from Carta insights - a full recounting of Q4 and FY 2023, accompanied by a similar review for pre-seed investing. All for the same low cost of zero dollars a month (payment plans available upon request).
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Peter Walker
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