Series A is the first institutional VC round—typically ₹20-100 crore raised to scale a proven business model with product-market fit. Requires consistent revenue growth and clear path to profitability.
Series A happens when you have strong PMF and are ready to scale. Requirements: Revenue: ₹50L-₹2 crore ARR (SaaS) or 500K+ users (consumer). Growth: 15-25% MoM consistently for 6+ months. Unit economics: Clear CAC payback period (<18 months), LTV:CAC >3. Team: 10-25 people, key roles filled. Raised from: Tier 1 VCs (Sequoia, Accel, Matrix, Lightspeed), US VCs for India (Tiger Global, SoftBank). Amount: India ₹20-100 crore. US $5M-$20M. Valuation: ₹100-500 crore pre-money. Dilution: 15-25%. Use of funds: Scale go-to-market (sales, marketing team), Product development (engineering team), Operations (hire CFO, HR, ops), Customer success (reduce churn). Timeline: 24-36 months to Series B. Series A deck must show: Strong PMF signals (retention, NPS), Predictable growth (sales model works), Unit economics (profitable customers), Market leadership (top 3 in category), Team strength, $100M+ revenue potential, Series B path.
Had ₹1 crore ARR growing 20% MoM, 60% gross margins, ₹15K CAC, ₹60K LTV (4:1 ratio). Raised ₹40 crore at ₹250 crore valuation. Used 24 months to reach ₹10 crore ARR (Series B metrics).
Had ₹50L ARR but 5% MoM growth (too slow), churn 10%/month (no PMF). Raised Series A anyway (2021 bubble). Couldn't grow, had down round, eventually shut down.
Raised ₹30 crore Series A at ₹200 crore with ₹2 crore ARR. Scaled to ₹25 crore ARR in 18 months. Raised Series B at ₹1,500 crore ($200M). Path to unicorn clear.
Series A validates your business model works. Crossing Series A means you're in top 5% of startups (most die before Series A). Series A failure rate: 40-50% never raise Series B—run out of money or get acqui-hired.
SaaS: ₹50L-₹2 crore ARR, 15%+ MoM growth, <10% churn, LTV:CAC >3. Consumer: 500K+ users, 40%+ Month 2 retention, clear monetization. B2B: ₹1-2 crore ARR, 10-20 customers, repeatable sales.
4-6 months. More diligence than Seed (financial, legal, customer refs). 20-50 VC meetings. Expect 1-3 term sheets if metrics are strong.
India: 10-30x ARR for SaaS. US: 15-40x ARR. Higher multiples for: High growth (>25% MoM), low churn (<5%), great team, winner-takes-all market. Lower for opposite.
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