Private Company Fundraising in 2018

Carta’s posted an article (including several graphs) about the state of private company fundraising in 2018. Here are the top takeaways:

1. Higher valuations and more cash
   • Median post-money valuations have increased for all stages of venture-backed companies over 2017. Increase is around 15% for Seed to Series C, and 128% for Series D.
   • Median cash raised has increased for all stages. Seed to Series B increase is around 7%. Series C to Series D is around 21%.
2. Amount of ownership sold
   • Seed companies have been selling around 25% ownership for the last 5 years.
   • Series A ownership sold has decreased from 30% in 2015 to 27% in 2018.
3. Fundraising and company age
   • Companies raising Seed rounds earlier and raising Series A rounds later (i.e., more time between Seed round and Series A round).
   • Median Seed cash increased from $1.5 million in 2014 to $2.1 million in 2018.
   • More Seed cash provides longer runway before Series A.
4. Seasonality in fundraising
   • Number of rounds closed is highest in December.
   • Lowest in January and February.