Time Between Funding Rounds: What to Expect
Written by Harry Prabandham
Curated by Rubric Financial
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Median Time Between Rounds
- [Source: Carta State of Private Markets, Crunchbase Funding Data]
- Pre-seed to Seed: 12-18 months, the shortest gap, focused on building MVP and getting to initial traction
- Seed to Series A: 18-24 months, the longest and most critical gap, where most startups either prove PMF or run out of runway
- Series A to Series B: 18-24 months, focused on scaling what works and proving unit economics at scale
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About the author
Harry PrabandhamFounder & CEO
Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.
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