Do names of VC Rounds Matter?

Companies raising the same amount of money have different post-money valuations depending on the round name.

Eg. If a seed-stage round raises $15M, that company is likely valued at $58M post-money. Whereas if a Series B company does so, the startup is typically worth $93M.

Why?

1. The companies that are raising Series B have likely raised more capital over multiple rounds than the earlier stages. So the valuation 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 be higher accounting for the excess capital already on the books.

  

2. The later the stage, the higher the traction / underlying business metrics needed to justify the next round (typically). 

  

3. Some round name fraud happening? Founders do sometimes choose to raise a "seed" when they've already raised significant capital in order to stand out relative to their peers..

#startups #Seed #SeriesA #SeriesB #founders