Unique Insights

SaaS startup insights, survey results and business trends

Startup Pre-Seed Funding Insights

80% of startups received one pre-seed funding round (14% received two, and 6% received three or more)

For startups with more than one pre-seed funding round, there was an average of 346 days between announced funding rounds.

The median pre-seed funding round was $250,000. 25% of pre-seed funding rounds were less than $105,000 and 25% were more than $648,000.

The median pre-seed funding round has increased over time, from $250,000 in 2017 to $400,000 in 2022.

Winter is the most popular season to announce pre-seed funding rounds, with 14% of rounds announced in January.

The number of startups receiving pre-seed funding rounds peaked in 2020, with 189 different startups receiving pre-seed funding rounds.

California is the most popular state for startups receiving pre-seed funding, with 34% of startups located in California. Next most popular was New York with 16% and Texas with 6%.

Over time, more startups located outside California and New York have received pre-seed funding. In 2017, 40% of startups were in California and 18% in New York, but this has diversified in 2022 to 29% in California, 12% in New York, 11% in Delaware, 6% in Florida, 6% in Washington, 5% in Illinois, and 5% in Texas.

The top 10 cities for startups receiving pre-seed funding were: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Wilmington, and Seattle.

Within the SaaS category, the top 10 categories startups were active in were: information technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, enterprise software, analytics, B2B, internet, e-commerce, human resources, and fintech.

Within the SaaS category, the top 10 categories for startups with the highest median pre-seed funding rounds (>$560,000) were: clean tech, e-learning, corporate training, product management, childcare, training, augmented reality, media and entertainment, mobile payments, and e-commerce platforms.

Within the SaaS category, the startups with the lowest median pre-seed funding rounds (<$119,000) were in the categories: home services, eSports, brand marketing, broadcasting, drones, gaming, lending, social media, web development, and lead generation.

**This research based upon data for the period of Feb 2016 to Feb 2023 from Crunchbase Funding Rounds Data Extracts for pre-seed funding raised for SaaS companies in the United States.