Raiseward Ventures: time from seed to Series A rose 5.9% in 2025

Startups in a Raiseward Ventures study took longer to reach their next major funding round in 2025.

LEWES, DE, UNITED STATES, November 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The median time from seed funding to Series A increased by 5.9%, while the third quartile rose by nearly nine months, indicating a larger change among companies with longer intervals between rounds.

Longer gaps between rounds can require startups to fund product development and operating costs for longer before new capital arrives. Raiseward Ventures analyzed 188 companies to examine changes in these timelines, differences across countries and technology sectors, and the implications for financial planning.

The time between rounds varied more widely

The median interval between seed and Series A increased from 22.3 months for the 2024 cohort to 23.7 months for the 2025 cohort. The most pronounced change occurred toward the upper end of the distribution: the third quartile rose from 30.2 to 38.8 months. The range covering the middle half of startups widened from 13.6–30.2 months to 12.8–38.8 months.

The change was therefore uneven across the sample. Some startups reached Series A in less than a year, while others took more than three years.
Trends differed across countries and technology sectors

Raiseward Ventures found different trends across geographic and industry groups. Among U.S. startups in the sample, the median time to Series A shortened by 1.35 months between the two cohorts. Among companies outside the United States, it increased by 2.02 months.

Technology sectors also followed different paths. In Fintech, the median interval fell from 23.9 to 20.4 months, even as the number of fintech companies in the sample increased. In High Tech, it rose from 24.1 to 26.2 months. Enterprise Applications recorded a decline of 5.8 months, while Enterprise Infrastructure saw an increase of approximately four months.

An extra 1.3 months could require another $130,000

A longer interval between rounds affects the amount of capital a startup needs. Raiseward Ventures illustrates the impact using a company with monthly net cash burn of $100,000: an additional 1.3 months before Series A would require approximately $130,000 in extra funding. At a monthly net cash burn of $200,000, the additional requirement would be $260,000. This assumes the monthly burn rate remains unchanged.

A longer transition does not necessarily signal business problems. A company may use the additional time to develop its product, increase revenue or prepare to raise capital on more favorable terms.

What the findings mean for founders and investors

The findings highlight the value of planning for a range of funding timelines. For founders, this means assessing whether existing capital can support continued growth if Series A takes longer than expected, alongside tracking progress toward the next round.

Capital efficiency, revenue growth and the resilience of the business model provide useful context for assessing the time between rounds. Venture funds can also use different funding scenarios when evaluating portfolio companies’ capital needs and planning follow-on investments.

About the study

The study used the public Global Startup Funding Rounds 2019–2026 dataset. It covered 188 companies that reached Series A in 2024–2025 and had a preceding seed round recorded in the database: 89 companies in the 2024 cohort and 99 in the 2025 cohort. Companies were grouped by the year of their Series A round. The findings describe this sample and should not be treated as estimates for the entire startup market.

Arseniy Minko
Raiseward Ventures

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