Seven funds. Published thresholds only, in each fund’s own words. Month is where the threshold attaches in the twenty four months between the seed close and the day the cash runs out.
| Metric | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual recurring revenue | Bessemer. CRV. Emergence Capital. Y Combinator | |
| ARR growth rate | Bessemer. ICONIQ Growth. Emergence Capital | |
| Net revenue retention | Bessemer. ICONIQ Growth. CRV | |
| Gross revenue retention | Bessemer. ICONIQ Growth | |
| Organic share of signups | Accel | |
| Burn multiple | Craft Ventures. Bessemer. Emergence Capital | |
| CAC payback period | Bessemer. ICONIQ Growth | |
| Magic number | ICONIQ Growth | |
| Gross margin | Bessemer | |
| Activation rate | No top-tier fund publishes a threshold | |
| Time to value | No top-tier fund publishes a threshold | |
| Free to paid conversion | No top-tier fund publishes a threshold | |
| PQL to paid conversion | No top-tier fund publishes a threshold | |
| Rule of 40 | ICONIQ Growth states it applies only above $25M of ARR | |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Organic inbound share of pipeline | Above 30% is excellent | 9 |
| Daily over monthly users | Above 40% is elite | 6 |
| Daily over monthly users | 14% is the SaaS average | 6 |
| Daily over monthly users | 30% is the SaaS 90th percentile | 6 |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| ARR, year one | $3M Shooting Star. $40M Supernova | 12 |
| Revenue growth | 75%+ good. 100%+ better. 125%+ best | 12 |
| Net revenue retention | 100% good. 110% better. 120%+ best | 12 |
| Gross revenue retention | 70% to 80% is acceptable for SMB cloud businesses | 12 |
| Logo retention | Above 85% good. Above 90% better. 95%+ best | 12 |
| Gross margin | 65% to 70% average at any maturity. Middle 50% runs 60% to 80% | 12 |
| Gross margin, AI native | 60% Shooting Star. 25% Supernova, often negative | 12 |
| CAC payback | 12 to 18 months good. 6 to 12 better. 0 to 6 best | 9 |
| Burn multiple | 1.2x at 100% growth | 12 |
| Efficiency score | Net new ARR over net burn. Under 0.5x good. 0.5 to 1.5x better. 1.5x+ best | 12 |
| ARR per FTE | $164K Shooting Star. $1.13M Supernova | 12 |
| Runway at the raise | 12 months good. 18 better. 24+ best | 12 |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| ARR for a competitive round | $2M to $5M | 12 |
| Median revenue at Series A in 2025 | $2.5M, around 75% above 2021 | 12 |
| Net revenue retention | 100% baseline. 110% to 120% competitive. 120%+ premium | 12 |
| Net revenue retention, top quartile at $1M to $3M of ARR | 94% | 12 |
| Runway at seed | 18 to 24 months | 0 |
| Runway when the round opens | 12 to 18 months remaining | 12 |
| Start tracking metrics | 12 to 18 months before the raise | 0 |
| Seed to Series A, recent cohorts | 20 to 26 months | 24 |
| AI valuation premium at Series A | 38% in 2025 | 17 |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Burn multiple under 1x | Amazing | 12 |
| Burn multiple 1x to 1.5x | Great | 12 |
| Burn multiple 1.5x to 2x | Good | 12 |
| Burn multiple 2x to 3x | Suspect | 12 |
| Burn multiple over 3x | Bad | 12 |
| Expected at seed | Around 3x | 0 |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| ARR, year one at Series A, AI native | $0 to $3M or $4M in the first year of monetizing | 12 |
| ARR growth, AI native median | 100% | 12 |
| ARR growth, traditional SaaS median | 23% | 12 |
| Burn multiple | Under 1x at the median | 12 |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| YoY ARR growth | 515% top quartile at $1M to $10M of ARR. 485% in the 2024 scorecard | 12 |
| Net dollar retention | 110% to 120% | 12 |
| Gross dollar retention | Above 90% for top quartile, from churn below 10% at any scale | 12 |
| Net magic number | Above 1.0x for top quartile at any scale | 9 |
| Net magic number, product led companies | 2.0x to 4.0x for top quartile | 9 |
| LTV over CAC | Above 6x for top quartile | 12 |
| CAC payback | Below 20 months for top quartile | 9 |
| Time to scale, AI native | Compressed 2x to 3x against traditional SaaS | 12 |
| Metric | Threshold | Month |
|---|---|---|
| ARR range they have seen funded | $200K to $9M | 12 |
| Seed companies that raise a Series A | Around 30% | 24 |
| Preparation starts | 6 to 12 months before the raise | 0 |
| Runway trigger to reassess | 9 to 12 months remaining | 12 |