There’s no hard and fast rule to know the answer to the first part of this question, so we encourage you to take a look at our Pre-seed, Seed, and Series A reports which will help determine how trends fluctuate and what’s standard. Our research found that teams who successfully fundraised for their pre-seed round stayed under $1,000,000, while those raising their seed round raised on average $1,800,000, and those in Series A raised just above $8,000,000, on average. Within each range of numbers, the final amount of capital raised also differed depending on the number of people on the founding team, their average age, as well as the team’s gender makeup (female teams raised significantly lower than male teams).
If you’re about to fundraise and you don’t know the appropriate amount to raise, keep those averages in mind, but it’s also beneficial to know that the more you raise, the more you spend and the higher the expectations are on your performance and traction. Ask for what you absolutely need to get to your next milestone (one year to 18 months down the line) and raise that, no more. Raising more just because you can is a very slippery slope.
In terms of communicating your fundraising goals in your pitch deck, the market says it’s preferable to include your ask within your deck. Take one slide toward the end of your deck to list your round, your ask, and to provide a brief breakdown of funds, which can be as simple as a pie chart or a few bullet points. It’s much easier for an investor to understand where you came up with a number for your ask if you give them a general idea of where you’re going to put that capital to work.