What are seed and Series A rounds?

Early money often comes from founders, friends, family and angel investors, frequently through SAFEs or convertible notes. A Series A is typically the first big venture capital round, and the name comes from the class of preferred shares sold, Series A preferred. Later rounds fund scaling, new markets and acquisitions. Round sizes vary widely by sector and year, and labels are loose: some companies raise several seed rounds or extensions.

Say a startup raises $2 million at seed, then $15 million in a Series A for 20% of the company. That values it at $75 million after the money comes in. Simple example. Terms vary by fund.

The round tells investors how far along a company is, how much risk is left and roughly what stake each new cheque buys.

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