Seed round

The round that funds finding product-market fit and the first repeatable go-to-market.

Example

$2M at an $8M pre-money.

Important

The bar has risen — a seed now often expects real revenue and retention. Check what companies like yours raised on recently, not what was true five years ago.

Related terms

• Pre-seed — The earliest institutional money — usually before meaningful revenue, funding the search for product-market fit.
• Series A — The round that funds scaling a business model that already works.
• Priced round — A funding round where the share price is actually agreed, shares are issued immediately and a valuation is set.

Lessons that explain it

• The funding stages, in order — Friends and family, angels, accelerators, pre-seed, seed, Series A and beyond — what each expects and what each is for. (12 min)

All 176 terms in the Founder glossary