The seed fundraising market has remained busy in 2024, with an average of more than five new rounds closing on Carta each day. But it’s not quite as busy as last year.
Through the first nine months of this year, startups on Carta raised 1,601 new seed rounds, down 14% from the same period in 2023. Total cash raised by seed-stage startups, meanwhile, totaled $5.8 billion through the first nine months of 2024, down 13% year over year.
While the high-level numbers have nosed down, other key metrics—like valuations and round sizes—are trending up at the seed stage. And some of these statistics look very different across different common sectors.
The venture fundraising landscape is in a state of constant transformation. Here are five ways it shifted at the seed stage during Q3:
1. Valuations hit a new high
The median valuation in new seed rounds on Carta reached $14.8 million in Q3, surpassing a $14.6 million median from Q2 2022 as the highest quarterly figure on record. Compared to two quarters ago, in Q1 2024, the median seed valuation has now jumped by 23%.
That’s a shift away from the consistency of the previous two years: From Q3 2022 through Q1 2024, the median seed valuation landed somewhere between $11.4 million and $12.5 million for seven straight quarters. Since then, the price of investing at the seed stage has gone up.
2. Seed rounds are growing
As seed valuations have been on the rise, so has the typical size of seed rounds. The median capital raised in seed rounds has now increased in three consecutive quarters, hitting $3.8 million in Q3. That’s up about 6% from the prior quarter. It’s also just shy of a new decade high, trailing only the $3.9 million median seed size from Q2 2022.
Across venture as a whole, deal amounts generally trended up in Q3. The median round size increased at almost every stage from seed through Series D, with Series B serving as the lone exception.
3. Dilution tied a decade low
The typical dilution on seed rounds hasn’t changed so much over the past several years. But in Q3, at least, the trend line pointed down. Median dilution fell to an even 20%, a slight drop from 20.7% the previous quarter.
Since Q1 2019, median dilution on seed deals has never fallen below 20%. But it’s been at precisely 20% on five different occasions. This isn’t much of a surprise: VCs frequently cite 20% dilution as the established industry standard on a new seed investment.
4. A surge in SaaS
The median seed valuation among SaaS startups rose nearly 11% in Q3, reaching $16 million. That’s more than $1 million higher than the aforementioned median valuation of $14.8 million on seed deals across all sectors in Q3.
SaaS startups on Carta closed 179 new seed rounds in Q3, raising a total of $879 million. That latter figure continues an overall upward trend: Year over year, total cash raised by seed rounds in SaaS is up 13%.
5. A slump in consumer products
The median seed valuation for consumer-products startups plunged by 31% in Q3, down to $10.6 million. That’s the third-lowest quarterly figure since the start of 2021. After reaching a new high point in Q1 2024, seed valuations in the consumer products space have now dropped in consecutive quarters.
The number of seed transactions involving consumer products also dropped in Q3. The quarterly total will likely continue to grow in the ensuing weeks, as companies continue to report deals on Carta. The current count of just 31 deals, however, would be the slowest quarter for seed activity in the consumer products space so far this decade.
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