What are Series A VCs looking for?

Long gone are the days where a startup could raise a Series A round based on vibes and the networks of its seed investors. But today’s Series A funding environment isn’t just a return to pre-2021 trends and metrics.

Series A investors are still taking longer to do due diligence, are more focused on the metrics, and are looking to participate in rounds at reasonable valuations. But seed investors told TechCrunch+ that this new environment sends founders mixed messages, and tracking what companies need to have accomplished to raise a Series A has become hard for them to decipher themselves.

The muted late-stage funding and exit environments have left investors with few data points and examples of how to price companies — and that now affects the Series A stage, too.

“The goal posts seem to be moving a lot,” said Eric Bahn, a co-founder and general partner at seed and pre-seed focused Hustle Fund. “If you were to push me in a corner and say, ‘Dude, what does it take to get to the Series A?’ I’m not sure I’d know the answer myself.”