Crunchbase Data: Median Seed Round Tripled to $3M While Series A Graduation Rate Collapsed from 55% to 16%

Crunchbase News·high signal

Median US seed rounds have tripled from $1M (2018) to $3M (2025), with upper quartile at $5.6M and high-end deals reaching $8-10M. But graduation rates have cratered: pre-2020 cohorts had 55%+ advancement rates, the 2023 cohort dropped to 24%, and the 2024 cohort hit just 16%. The driver: Series A now requires $2-4M ARR (up from $1M) and timelines exceed two years. Investors predict significantly higher mortality rates for seed-stage companies, which could wipe out entire seed-stage funds.