The Pre-Seed Round in 2020: New Investor Priorities Emerge

The pre-seed round is here to stay as a competitive fundraising hurdle for startups. What was once a nebulous, ill-defined funding round continued solidifying in 2020 into a stage of its own.

For the second year running, the DocSend Startup Index is reporting on trends in the pre-seed fundraising process. We analyzed pitch deck data from pre-seed stage startups to understand what goes into a successful pre-seed raise and how the process has changed since last year. Our 2020 report shows:

• How much the average company raises in their pre-seed round
• How much equity founders give up during pre-seed
• The average length of a pre-seed round
• The strategy and format behind a successful pitch deck 
• How the rules of engagement can vary among teams based on gender, ethnicity, or even geographic location