The Ultimate Guide to Startup Funding Stages - Visible.vc
The Ultimate Guide to Startup Funding Stages
October 20, 2025
Matt Preuss Marketing Manager
Key Takeaways
Understand every stage of startup funding, from pre-seed to IPO, with clear definitions, data-backed examples, and actionable insights to plan your capital journey confidently.
Discover average funding amounts by stage, including up-to-date data showing how round sizes have evolved across Seed, Series A, B, and C.
Learn what investors look for at each round and how to position your startup for success, from building early traction to scaling growth.
Access practical guidance for raising venture capital, calculating valuations, and managing investor relationships efficiently with tools like Visible.
Get expert tips and resources to help you fundraise strategically, avoid common pitfalls, and build lasting momentum toward your next round or IPO.
Building a startup is challenging. On top of building a product, hiring a team, and scaling revenue, founders are responsible for securing capital for their business.
For many startups, this comes in the form of venture capital. Learn more about the different funding stages and venture capital rounds below.
What Are Startup Funding Stages?
There are multiple stages of startup funding: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, and so forth. Startups should be conscientious about the funding rounds that they will go through, which are generally based on the current maturity and development of the company. Here’s an overview of the major startup stages.
As of 2023. Source Crunchbase
Seed funding is a startup’s earliest funding stage. Often, seed funding comes from angel investors, friends and family members, and the original company founders. An early-stage startup may also look for funding through bank loans, but angel investments are usually preferred. Seed funding is used to start the company itself, and consequently, it’s a fairly high risk: the company has not yet proven itself within the market. There are many angel investors that specifically focus on seed funding opportunities because it allows them to purchase a part of the company’s equity when the company is at its lowest valuation.
Related Reading: Valuing Startups: 10 Popular Methods
The next stage of the startup funding process is Series A funding. This is when the company (usually still pre-revenue) opens itself up to further investments. Series A funding is generally much more significant than the funding procured through angel investors, with funds of more than $10 million usually being procured. Series A funding is often acquired to help a startup launch. The business will publicize itself as being open to Series A investors and will need to provide an appropriate valuation. Finally, there’s Series B, C, D, and beyond funding. Later stage funding is sought by companies that have already become successful and are trying to expand that success.
Each stage of the startup funding process operates very similarly, despite the different stages the business might be in. During the startup funding process, the company has to be able to establish its valuation and will need to have clear plans for how it is planning to use the money it procures. Each round of funding will also, by necessity, dilute the company’s equity. Also regardless of stage, it's important to leverage a startup fundraising platform like Visible in order to save time and close quickly.
Seed Funding
Seed funding is a startup’s earliest funding stage. Often, seed funding comes from angel investors, friends and family members, and the original company founders. More investors have become keen on being early investors into a startup so they can invest again at later stages.
Raising seed-stage funding is a major accomplishment for a startup. Seed-stage funding is the initial surge of capital into the business. At this point, a startup is largely an idea and will have little to no revenue. This stage is generally when a product and go-to-market strategy are being built and developed.
Over the past couple of years, seed-stage funding has exploded in round size. What used to be regarded as a few small checks from family and friends has turned into a multimillion-dollar round.
How to Acquire Seed Funding
There are generally a few ways founders can approach a seed round. First things first, founders need to find a list of investors that are relevant for their business. Not every investor will say “yes” so it is important to have a list of 50+ investors to target.
From here, founders will need to reach out to potential investors, sit meetings, and share their pitch deck and vision to garner interest. Next, founders will work through due diligence with the hopes of adding new investors to their cap table.
Related Reading: Seed Funding for Startups: A 101 Guide
Series A Funding
After raising a Seed Round it’s time for a company to advance to a later round of venture capital financing, which means Series A funding. Series A is a significant stage in a company's lifecycle and is a monumental moment in a startup's funding journey. A Series A startup typically has found some success, has found product market fit, and is ready to scale.
At the time of Series A funding, the company has to be valued and priced. Thought must go into previous investments, as prior investors will have also purchased the business at a specific valuation. If an angel investor purchased into the company at a valuation of $100,000 just months ago, then new investors may balk at purchasing at a $10,000,000 valuation today.
Once the funding round has been completed, the company will usually have working capital for 6 to 18 months. From there, the company may either be able to move to market or may instead progress to another series of funding. Series A, B, and C funding rounds are all based on stages that the company goes through during its development.
Average Series A Funding Amount
As of 2024, the average Series A funding amount is $18.7 million. A Series A valuation calculator can be used to get close to the number that you should value your company at, though you will also need to thoroughly justify your valuation.
How to Acquire Series A Funding?
A company’s valuation will be impacted by a number of factors, including the company’s management, size, track record, risk, and potential for growth. Analysts can be called in for a professional valuation of the business. During a Series A funding round, a business usually will not yet have a proven track record, and may have a higher level of risk.
During a Series A round, investors will usually be able to purchase from 10% to 30% of the business. Series A investments are generally used to grow the business, often in preparation for entering into the market. The company itself will be able to decide how much it wants to sell during its Series A round, and may want to retain as much of the company control as possible.
Series B Funding
Once a business has been launched and established, it may need to acquire Series B funding. A business will only acquire Series B funding after it has started its operations and proven its business model. Series B funding is generally less risky than Series A funding, and consequently, there are usually more interested investors.
As with Series A funding, the company begins with a valuation. From there, it publicizes the fact that it’s looking for Series B funding. The company will be selling its equity at the valuation that is settled upon, and investors are free to make offers regarding this valuation. A startup that gets to Series B funding is already more successful than many startups, which will not go beyond their initial seed capital.
Average Series B Funding Amount
On average, Series B startups will usually get $30M or more. The bulk of the heavy lifting will already have been done by seed capital and Series A funding. Series B funding will simply be used to grow the business further and improve upon it.
How to Acquire Series B Funding?
Sometimes Series B funding will come from the same investors who initially offered Series A funding. Other times, Series B funding may come from additional investors, or from firms that specialize in investing. Either way, investors are usually going to be paying more for less equity than investors did in prior funding rounds, because the company’s valuation will have scaled. A Series B funding valuation will need to consider the company’s current performance and its future potential for growth.
Series C Funding
Series C funding is meant for companies that have already proven themselves as a business model but need more capital for expansion. Like Series B funding, Series C investors will often be entrepreneurs and individuals who have already invested in the company in the past. A startup may connect with their angel investors and Series A and Series B investors first when trying to procure Series C funding.
If a business has made it to Series C funding they are already quite successful. Whereas earlier stage rounds are used to help a startup find traction and grow, by the time a startup raises their Series C they are already established and growing. By raising a Series C a business will be able to make strategic investments. This could mean investing in market expansion, new products, or even acquiring other companies.
Average Series C Funding Amount
A Series C funding amount is generally between $30 and $100M settling on an average round of $50M. At this point, a startup’s valuation is likely over $100M and they are on a national radar looking to expand internationally.
How to Acquire Series C funding?
When approaching a Series C, the strategy will likely change from earlier rounds. As we mentioned, the average is around $50M. This means that your investors cutting checks between $1 and $5M from earlier rounds are no longer likely to lead a round. Previous investors may be keen to invest in your Series C but startups will need to fill out the remainder of the round from other investors.
Later Startup Funding Stages
Depending on the business strategy, a Series C round may be the end of the road in terms of venture capital financing. At this point, the company is likely headed in a strong direction and owns a large % of an addressable market. However, some companies go on to raise their Series D, Series E, Series F, and even Series G.
Series D Funding
A Series D funding round may occur if the company was not able to raise enough money through its Series C. This often has implications for the business. Series D funding occurs when the business was not able to meet its targets with its Series C, and consequently it can mean that the business is now at a lower valuation. Being priced at a lower valuation is usually very negative for a business.
Series E Funding
Series E funding may be necessary if Series D funding isn’t able to meet the company’s needs for capital. This is, again, a very bad sign, and very few companies are going to survive to Series E funding. Series E funding will only occur if the business still hasn’t been able to make up its own capital but the business is still struggling to remain active and private.
Series F Funding
Beyond Series E funding comes Series F funding. Very few companies will make it to Series F funding. This is many years into a company's lifecycle. Series F funding is largely used for capital-intensive businesses that need to fuel their next stage of growth, an IPO, an acquisition, or expansion.
Series G Funding
Next comes Series G funding. Even fewer companies will make it to a Series G. Like Series E or F funding, a Series G round is typically used for companies that are on to their next stage of growth, gearing up for an IPO or acquisition, or expansion into a new market.
Initial Public Offering (IPO): Accessing Public Markets for Funding
An IPO has traditionally been the pinnacle of a startup’s success story. As put by the team at Investopedia, “An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance for the first time. An IPO allows a company to raise equity capital from public investors.” For startup founders and early employees, an IPO is an opportunity to cash out.
Track Your Startup’s Fundraise With Visible
No matter the series, size, or timing of your round, Visible is here to help. With Visible, you can manage every stage of your fundraising pipeline:
- Find investors at the top of your funnel with our free investor database, Visible Connect
- Track your conversations and move them through your funnel with our Fundraising CRM
- Share your pitch deck and monthly updates with potential investors
- Organize and share your most vital fundraising documents with data rooms
Manage your fundraise from start to finish with Visible.