Startup Funding Benchmarks

Deal terms, and the requirements to raise startup funding, are constantly in flux. The below metrics reflect what we are seeing across dozens of deals per month, and across most major geographic markets and industries.

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Startup Funding Requirements & Milestones

The below are the average milestones and deal metrics we are observing across the globe on the date displayed.

Please note these figures are an approximate average, since deals vary widely across geographic markets, industries, and companies. In the end, a company is worth what an investor/ acquirer is willing to agree it is worth and the below should only be used as a baseline guide.

Last Updated on Jun 17, 2025 @ FI.co/benchmarks
Stage
Traction
Pre-Seed Customer Validation + Early Users
Seed Product-Market Fit
Series A Expansion
Growth Rate
Pre-Seed 0 - 20% MoM
Seed 15% - 30% MoM
Series A 25%+ MoM
Monthly Revenue
Pre-Seed $1 - $50K
Seed $50K - $200K
Series A $200K+
Team Size
Pre-Seed 2+
Seed 4+
Series A 8+
Product
Pre-Seed MVP (with users)
Seed Robust
Series A Commercial
Investors
Pre-Seed F&F, Seed Accelerators, Angels, Pre-Seed/ Micro VC Funds
Seed Seed Accelerators, Angels, Seed VC Funds
Series A Series A/ Growth VC Funds, Corporate VCs, Existing Investors
Round Size
Pre-Seed $25K - $2MM
Seed $2MM - $5MM
Series A $6MM - $30MM
Company Valuation (Post-Money)
Pre-Seed $1MM - $8MM
Seed $8MM - $32MM
Series A $20MM - $50MM
Investment Vehicle
Pre-Seed SAFE/ Convertible Note
Seed Priced Round
Series A Priced Round
Equity Sold
Pre-Seed N/A (convertible)
Seed 15-25%
Series A 15-25%

Startup "Traction" Metrics

In general, investors invest in "traction" over ideas. But the definition of "traction" changes across industries, and over time. The below are the average traction metrics/ milestones we are observing across the globe on the date displayed.

Last Updated on Jun 17, 2025 @ FI.co/benchmarks
Industry
Marketplaces/ eCommerce
Pre-Seed Traction $10K - $500K Transaction Revenue
Seed Traction $250K - $3MM Revenue Run Rate
Series A Traction $7M - $20MM Revenue Run Rate
Consumer Audience
Pre-Seed Traction Demonstrable Customer Demand, 5K+ DAUs, Great Engagement
Seed Traction 25K - 100K DAUs, Network Effects, Great Engagement/ Retention
Series A Traction 600K+ DAUs
Saas
Pre-Seed Traction Paid Pilots
Seed Traction $30K - $150K MRR
Series A Traction $250K MRR, 12 months of Cohort Data
Deep Tech
Pre-Seed Traction Strong Leadership, LOIs, PoCs
Seed Traction Strong Leadership, POCs, Strong IP
Series A Traction Commercial Validation

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Current State of Funding

Jun 17, 2025 @ FI.co/benchmarks

Coming into 2025, we projected that strong IPO debuts would catalyze larger growth across the entire funding stack, while weak or middling debuts would lead to a "stabilization and slow growth" trend akin to 2024.

Thus far the IPO and M&A market has underperformed and a large amount of economic uncertainty was spurred by the U.S. tariffs, though there are signs of recent improvement.

In this latest update, we have seen small increases across all traction benchmarks, likely due to the increasing demand for founder efficiency and growth from AI. We have also seen a leveling out of team sizes, once again likely due to this increased focus on efficiency.

The "Series A Crunch" that started in 2023 has only grown wider as the supply of seed-stage companies trying to raise A rounds has increased, enabling investors to be picky and operate from a position of great strength. For many seed-stage companies metrics are no longer enough to raise the A - a strong vision and narrative for the future exponential growth of your company is required.

While most cumulative fundraising metrics are flat or dropping across the board, we still see the biggest gap to be the Series A round and not the earlier rounds. We are also seeing a large number of new small/ micro-VC funds ($<20MM fund size) picking up the slack in the pre-seed and seed space that was created when many later stage funds retreated from the early stages.

To successfully fundraise in 2025, entrepreneurs must showcase traction (even pre-revenue startups), capital efficiency, and a strong vision/ narrative for their future growth. Be prepared to pitch to a large number of investors (100-200), using the process as a way to both find investment and improve your pitch.

Methodology

The Founder Institute is the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator, with over 7,800 portfolio companies spanning 100 countries. Our data is derived from working closely with FI Alumni on their financing efforts on a daily basis, and observing dozens of term sheets and deals per month. In addition, this data leverages feedback from the FI Venture Network (a network of investors that participate in the earliest startup funding rounds) and our sister company, VC Lab (the leading accelerator to launch new venture funds).

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