The U.S. has been particularly active in large seed financings, contributing to the growth of this asset class. In 2014, less than $5 billion was invested at seed, but this figure rose to over $16 billion at the market peak in 2022, before falling to $11.5 billion in 2023. The trend of larger seed rounds and a growing pool of investors backing early-stage startups suggests that seed funding has evolved into its own asset class over the past decade.
Key takeaways:
- Startups are increasingly securing seed rounds of $5 million or more, with more than 1,500 such financings identified by Crunchbase last year.
- Despite a contraction in overall global venture investment since 2021, large seed rounds have not followed the same pattern and have remained resilient.
- Some startups have secured exceptionally large seed rounds, such as Yuga Labs with a $450 million seed round and Elon Musk's xAI with a $135 million seed round.
- Seed funding to startups has grown into its own asset class over the past decade, with the U.S. being particularly active for big seed financings. In 2022, seed investment peaked at over $16 billion.