Series B Funding Services for Scaleups Raising $20M–$50M

Series B funding is the second institutional priced equity round a venture-backed startup raises, typically $20M–$50M, led by growth VCs or crossover funds. Companies raising Series B generally have $5M–$10M+ in ARR, 100%+ net revenue retention, an executive team in seat, and a clear path to $100M ARR or a strategic exit. Median pre-money Series B valuation in Q3 2025 was $117M.

The defensible minimum is $5M–$7M ARR; strong Series B candidates cross $10M ARR with 100%–150% YoY growth. For AI-native companies, some growth VCs underwrite earlier — $3M–$5M ARR with exceptional growth can clear the bar — but non-AI SaaS without $5M ARR rarely closes a Series B. Marketplace and fintech benchmarks differ: $30M+ GMV or equivalent transaction scale is the common proxy.

Median 4–6 months from first partner meeting to signed term sheet, assuming $5M+ ARR, 100%+ NRR, and a tight 20–30 fund target list. Diligence alone runs 4–6 weeks — cohort waterfall, customer reference calls, financial-model stress-testing, and partner-memo review. Our Series B clients close roughly 70% faster than founder-only raises because data room, model, and outreach tracks run in parallel with founder meetings rather than sequentially.

$20M–$50M is the standard range; median Q3 2025 Series B round was $27M–$29M. The lead writes $15M–$40M, with the rest filled by existing-investor pro-rata and co-leads. AI Series B rounds trend larger — median AI Series B valuation in 2026 was around $143M pre-money, dragging round sizes up.

Median pre-money Series B valuation was $117M–$119M in Q3 2025. Range $80M–$140M for primary rounds, $140M+ for bridge/extensions. AI-native companies command materially higher multiples (median AI Series B ~$143M pre-money). Revenue multiples cluster at 6×–12× ARR for SaaS.

Series B dilution typically lands in the 15%–25% planning range, with the median around 13%–14% in Q3 2025 per data. Growth VCs target 10%–20% ownership per round at Series B — typically lower than Series A's 19% median because ARR scale and valuation rise faster than round size between A and B. See the NVCA yearbook for annualized dilution trends across the US VC market.

Series A underwrites thesis plus early PMF — $1M–$3M ARR, $5M–$20M check. Series B underwrites scaled unit economics plus executive team — $5M–$10M+ ARR, $20M–$50M check, median valuation 3–4× higher. Series A diligence runs 2–3 weeks; Series B diligence runs 4–6 weeks with cohort waterfall and customer reference calls. Series A leads stay on the board through B, which now seats 3–5 members.

Leading Series B growth funds include Bessemer Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Accel, Iconiq Growth, Insight Partners, TCV, and General Atlantic. European Series B leads include Creandum, Northzone, Index Ventures, and Balderton. Our clients have raised from Bessemer, a16z, Creandum, Antler, Cherry, Global Ventures, and Northzone — we maintain warm paths into Series B partners at these firms. We map the rest of your target list per thesis and check-size fit.

When you've hit 3 of 4 anchors: $5M+ ARR with 100%+ YoY growth, NRR above 110%, burn multiple under 1.5×, and 18+ months of Series A runway remaining. The median gap between Series A and Series B has extended to 28+ months. Raising too early forces a down-round risk if metrics soften; raising too late means capital efficiency is maxed out and growth decelerates going into the pitch.

Yes — large Series A rounds ($30M+) combined with rapid ARR scale (to roughly $30M+ ARR in 12–18 months) can route companies directly to Series C with a growth lead. This is uncommon; fewer than 10% of venture-backed startups skip Series B outright. The more typical alternative is a Series B extension or a secondary-inclusive round that blurs the B/C line.

Ranked by weight in growth-VC diligence: (1) ARR and growth rate ($5M+ ARR, 50%+ YoY minimum), (2) net revenue retention (100%+ minimum, 120%+ strong), (3) burn multiple (<1.5× strong), (4) CAC payback (<18 months), (5) gross margin (70%+ SaaS), (6) LTV:CAC (3:1 minimum, 4:1+ durable). Cohort retention waterfalls are the primary Series B diligence artefact. A named CFO and VP Sales in seat are effectively table stakes.

Both — but the data room carries more weight than the deck at Series B. The pitch deck is a roughly 20-slide conversation starter; the data room is the full institutional package: audited financials, cohort retention waterfall, CAC/LTV by channel, pricing history, churn analysis, hiring plan, cap table, legal, customer contracts, and a 3-year growth model. Growth VCs spend roughly 80% of diligence hours in the data room, 20% in meetings.

Scope and retainer tier defined on a diagnostic call. See pricing for current retainer tiers (Foundations / Managed / Full-Stack).

Three structural shifts. First, diligence is deeper — growth VCs now run 4–6 weeks of cohort waterfall, customer reference calls, and financial-model stress-testing before issuing a term sheet. Second, capital efficiency matters more — burn multiple under 1.5× is table stakes, not a differentiator. Third, the bar for AI-native companies is bifurcated — strong AI companies command premium multiples (~$143M median pre-money) while non-AI SaaS faces tighter valuation discipline. Median ARR at IPO has risen from ~$80M historically to ~$250M, shifting exit expectations earlier into the Series B pipeline.

Raising Series B is three workstreams running in parallel, not sequentially. First, the metrics package — a cohort-anchored growth model, NRR waterfall, burn-multiple trend, and a clear path to $100M ARR. Second, a Series B target list of 20–30 growth VCs and crossover funds, mapped to thesis and warm-path availability, with partner-level intros activated. Third, a full data room plus diligence-defence workstream that runs for 4–6 weeks behind the partner meetings. In our experience across 600+ fundraises, parallel execution is what compresses the Series B timeline to 4–6 months versus the 8–12 months founders typically take running it solo. Start with a Series B readiness review.