The median pre-money valuation of seed stage deals has increased since 2010, as the US economy has emerged from the recent recession. The following table shows the pre-money valuation of seed stage deals from several sources over the past five years:
Payne’s survey data was provided by 30 angel groups from all regions of the US Sohl’s data is published annually by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. The Halo Reports are published quarterly by the Angel Resource Institute for deals done by angel groups. Pitchbook data is from 1H 2015 VC Valuations and Trends
There appears to be general agreement that the pre-money valuation of seed stage deals has increased significantly since 2010 and perhaps doubled. We also see that the valuation of seed stage deals funded by VCs is about twice that of angel deals. This data prompts several questions:
- Why is the pre-money valuation of seed stage deals higher for VC-funded companies than for angel-funded companies? I believe
- Why are angel valuations increasing?
- Is there much variation in pre-money valuation by business sector?
- Does the valuation of startup deals vary by location?