Series A
The first large priced round, funding the scaling of a proven model.
Series A funds scaling something that already works. The question shifts from whether customers want this to whether growth can be bought predictably and repeatably.
Investors look for evidence the model is repeatable: consistent growth, retention that holds, and unit economics that improve with scale. A common but imprecise benchmark is around $1M ARR growing meaningfully month over month.
The Series A gap — companies that raise seed and never reach A — is where most startups fail. The usual cause is growth without retention: acquiring customers who do not stay.