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How much do startups raise at seed, and how is pre-seed raised? The recent Carta numbers

4 min · 2026-11

By Onur Keser, cofounder of nommi · reviewed 2026-11-05

the short answer

On Carta, the median US seed round in the first nine months of 2025 was 4 million US dollars. Across seed rounds on Carta in the same period, the median post-money valuation was 20 million. Pre-seed money mostly arrives on SAFEs, not priced shares: 77% of pre-seed deals in the first quarter of 2026. These are medians for companies that use Carta, not the whole market and not a target you have to hit.

In short

  • Answer: a typical US seed round on Carta in 2025 raised about 4 million US dollars, and software startups sold about a fifth of the company. Most pre-seed money came on SAFEs.
  • The evidence: Carta, State of Seed (Winter 2025) and State of Pre-Seed (Q1 and Q2 2026), companies and rounds on Carta.
  • Watch out: a median is the middle deal, not a fair price for yours. Half the rounds in Carta's data sit below it.
  • Do this next: write down how much you need to reach your next proof, then compare it with the range below, not the other way round.
  • Last reviewed: 5 November 2026.

How big is a seed round now?

  • Median US seed round, January to September 2025: 4.0 million US dollars.
  • Median seed post-money valuation, January to September 2025: 20 million US dollars.
  • Median seed pre-money valuation across sectors, October 2024 to September 2025: 15 million US dollars, with a median 3.6 million raised in those rounds.

Medians do not add up: a median pre-money plus a median raise is not a median post-money, because each median is the middle of its own list.

How much of the company does a seed round sell?

For software startups in July to September 2025, the median seed round sold 20% of the company when the startup was not an AI company and 19% when it was. Dilution is the word for what that does to your share.

Over several rounds it adds up. For companies on Carta with rounds raised 2021 to 2025, the median founding team still owned 55.8% of the company after the seed round, counting every share and option, then 36.2% after Series A, 23.2% after Series B and 16.4% after Series C.

How is pre-seed money raised?

Mostly on a SAFE, a contract that gives you money now for shares later. In January to March 2026, 77% of pre-seed deals on Carta were SAFEs and 15% were priced equity. In 2025, through September, 61% of SAFEs signed on Carta carried a valuation cap and no discount, up from 56% in 2024.

The cap moves with the size of the round. Median post-money SAFE cap on pre-seed rounds, January 2025 to June 2026:

Pre-seed round size (US dollars)Median post-money SAFE cap (US dollars)
Under 250,0008 million
250,000 to 499,00010 million
500,000 to 999,00010 million
1 million to 2.4 million15 million
2.5 million or more30 million

What these numbers mean for you

  • Start from what the money has to prove, not from the median. A round sized to the median but spent on the wrong test is still the wrong round.
  • Read a cap together with the amount. On a post-money SAFE, the amount divided by the cap is roughly the share you sell.
  • Count your dilution across rounds before you agree to the first one. The 16.4% above is what the median founding team keeps after four rounds, not after one.

Where these numbers are weak

They cover companies and rounds on Carta, which leans towards US startups with venture investors. Money from friends, grants or customers may not show up in this data. The periods differ between charts, so do not combine them into one sum. Carta publishes new editions, and these will move: each figure here names the edition it came from.

Sources