The State of Early-Stage Capital 2026
Record global venture volume, brutal early-stage selectivity. The 2026 data on round sizes, graduation rates and diligence cycles.
8 posts tagged with "Benchmarks"
Round sizes, valuations, timelines and graduation rates for early-stage startups
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Pre-Seed and Seed Benchmarks 2026: Round Sizes, Valuations, Dilution
The 2026 numbers on pre-seed and seed rounds: median raise, pre-money and post-money valuations, dilution, and why Carta and PitchBook disagree.
The Graduation Problem: What Share of Seed Companies Reach Series A
Roughly 15-20% of seed companies reach Series A within 24 months, down from 30% in 2018. The data, why it halved, and what it changes.
The Investment Memo, Standardised: What Belongs in a Pre-Seed IC Memo
A one-page investment memo for pre-seed and seed: the nine blocks, what has to be falsifiable, and why you write it before the decision.
How Long a Seed Round Actually Takes
Three to six months end to end. The 2026 timeline by phase, the single variable that halves it, and why founders plan for half the duration.
Why Diligence Takes Longer Than It Did in 2021
Diligence cycles lengthened during a year of record deployment. The counter-intuitive reason is throughput, not caution, and it is a data-format problem.
The Global Map of Early-Stage Capital
The US share of global venture fell from 83% to two thirds in one quarter. Where early-stage capital is forming, and what crossing a border costs.
AI in Fundraising: The 2026 Market Map
Seven categories, the companies in each, and the gap nobody has filled. A map of the tools reshaping how early-stage rounds get raised and evaluated.