Series A and Series B funding rounds are successive institutional fundraisings carried out by a startup from venture capital funds, following the initial bootstrapping phases (pre-seed, seed financed by business angels). Each series marks a maturity milestone for the company, accompanied by an increasing valuation, founder dilution and the entry of institutional investors into the capital.

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Series A typically occurs when the startup has validated its Product-Market Fit, shows ARR of CHF 500,000 to CHF 3.0 million and a monthly growth rate of 10–20%. The typical raise is CHF 2–10 million for a pre-money valuation of CHF 5–20 million. Investing funds typically take 15–25% of post-money diluted capital and obtain governance rights (board seat, veto rights on strategic decisions).

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Series B occurs after validation of the business model's scalability: ARR of CHF 5–20 million, annual growth rate of 80–150%, NRR above 110%. Amounts raised are CHF 10–50 million for pre-money valuations of CHF 30–150 million. The objective is to fund geographic expansion, commercial hiring and sometimes first add-on acquisitions.

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Example: a Franco-Swiss SaaS scale-up raises a Series A of CHF 5.0 million at a pre-money valuation of CHF 12.0 million (ARR CHF 1.8M, 6.7x multiple). 18 months later, with ARR of CHF 4.2 million and NRR of 121%, it raises a Series B of CHF 18.0 million at a pre-money valuation of CHF 45.0 million (10.7x ARR) — founders have been diluted to 48% cumulative after both rounds.

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At Hectelion, we accompany Franco-Swiss startups in the valuation and preparation of their Series A and B fundraising rounds, building documented investment memoranda and market comparable analyses.