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Entrepreneurship & Startups vocabulary · Fundraising & Investors

Seed round

Meaning in entrepreneurship & startups, with examples

/ˈsiːd raʊnd/nounCore term

In entrepreneurship & startups, seed round means: One of the first official funding rounds of a startup, used to build the product, hire the first team and look for product-market fit.

In Turkish: tohum yatırım turu, seed turu

How it is used

Seed money usually comes from angels, accelerators and seed funds. Before it there may be a pre-seed round, and after it comes a Series A. People say raise a seed round, seed-stage company, seed investor and seed funding.

Example sentences

  1. We raised a 1.2 million dollar seed round to hire three engineers and launch in Germany.

  2. The seed round gives us about 18 months to prove the model.

Common collocations

  • raise a seed round
  • seed funding
  • seed-stage company
  • seed investor
  • pre-seed round
  • funding roundA planned period in which a startup raises a set amount of money from one or more investors, usually on the same terms and at the same valuation.
  • Series AThe first major venture capital round after seed funding, raised when a startup has real traction and needs money to grow a model that already works.
  • angel investorA wealthy individual who invests their own money in very young startups, usually in exchange for equity, and often gives advice and contacts as well.
  • acceleratorA fixed-term programme, often three to six months, that gives a group of startups mentoring, training, contacts and usually a small investment in exchange for equity.
  • early-stageDescribes a startup in its first phase, before strong revenue or product-market fit, or an investor who puts money into companies at this phase.

More terms: Fundraising & Investors

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