The Entrepreneurs Report: Private Company Financing Trends, Full-Year 2025 (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati)

Summary

• Nearly 40% of Seed and Series A companies in the dataset highlight AI as a key part of their mission.p.7
• Median Seed raise amounts rose from $4.4 million in Q3 2025 to $6.0 million in Q4 2025, and median Series A raises hit a record $19.3 million.p.8
• Median Series B raises rebounded to $32.3 million, while Series C and later raises dropped to a median of $42.0 million in Q4 2025.p.8
• 72% of Series B and later companies raising a preferred round in Q4 2025 did so through an up round; down rounds fell from 27% to 15%.p.9
• For the first time in four years, the median amount raised via SAFE financings hit $1 million in 2025.p.11

Key insights

1. Flat rounds rose from 4% to 13%, and 28% of Series B and later rounds were down or flat in Q4 2025.p.9
2. Pay-to-play provisions appeared in 42% of down rounds in 2025, up from 27% in 2024.p.10
3. More than 90% of pre-Seed non-equity financings in the dataset were SAFEs rather than convertible promissory notes.p.11
4. 81% of 2025 SAFEs employed a post-money valuation cap structure.p.12
5. In 2025, 94% of pre-Seed notes carried interest rates of 8% or less.p.14
6. Post-Seed note maturities over 12 months fell to 36%, down from 42% in 2024.p.14