Tomasz Tunguz (Theory Ventures) · 2016-02-25 · 3752d

Series A SaaS Benchmarks: Growth Metrics, Valuation Trends, and 2016 Market Outlook

Analysis of 50+ fastest-growing Series A SaaS companies reveals significant shifts in fundraising patterns, with average MRR at Series A rising 80% annually to $163k by early 2016, while average round sizes grew 11% annually to $9.5M. The analysis identifies three major 2016 themes: valuation pressure from public market repricing, renewed focus on unit economics over growth-at-all-costs, and anticipated M&A acceleration.

18 metrics· Cited 0× in the knowledge base ·Open source ↗

Metrics in this report

Annual Series A MRR Growth Rate

80%

mean

Year-over-year increase 2014-2016

Annual Series A Round Size Growth

11%

mean

Year-over-year increase

Cloud Penetration of IT Market Cap

2%

less than

Current market composition

Corporate Cash on Balance Sheets

400,000,000,000$

mean

Large corporations

Founders Expecting Harder 2016 Fundraising

66%

mean

Survey by First Round

Q4 Investment Decline

15-20%

range

Across all stages

Seed Investment Growth Since 2010

5xmultiplier

mean

Cumulative increase

Series A Companies with Zero MRR

27%

mean

Pre-commercialization at fundraising

Series A Investment Growth Since 2010

2xmultiplier

mean

Cumulative increase

Series A MRR (2014)

50,000$

mean

At time of Series A closing

Series A MRR (Early 2016)

163,000$

mean

At time of Series A closing

Series A Round Size

9,500,000$

mean

Exceptional SaaS companies

Series A Round Size Range (Lower)

3,000,000$

min

Exceptional SaaS companies

Series A Round Size Range (Upper)

20,000,000$

max

Exceptional SaaS companies

Series B+ Investment Growth Since 2010

3xmultiplier

mean

Cumulative increase

Year 1 MRR (Ending)

93,000$

mean

Exceptional Series A SaaS companies after first year

Year 1 MRR (Starting Point)

10,000$

mean

Exceptional Series A SaaS companies at commercialization

Year 2 MRR (Ending)

413,000$

mean

Exceptional Series A SaaS companies after second year