Typical gap between rounds: 14 months. Seed to Series A: about 20 months. Series A to B: 16. Raise for at least 18 months of runway, and hire finance before you start the next deck.
The typical gap between rounds is 14 months
Half of all next rounds were announced within 14 months of the company’s previous round, according to our data. A quarter were back within 8 months. Another quarter took more than 23 months.
Some founders raise again fast, probably because the business is flying or the last round ran out early. Others make one round last for years. Plan around 14 months, and expect to be back in front of investors sooner than feels comfortable.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseTime between funding rounds, Australian startups, 2016 to 2026
Median 14 months between raises (middle half: 8 to 23 months, n = 820).
Half of next rounds were announced within 14 months of the last one. A quarter took more than 23 months.
Seed to Series A takes about 20 months
Companies that went from seed to Series A typically took about 20 months. Series A to B took 16, and Series B to C took 19, according to our data. Only 20% of seed-funded companies went on to raise a Series A.
| Step | Months | Went on to raise it |
|---|---|---|
| Seed to Series A | 19.5 | 20% |
| Series A to Series B | 16 | 25% |
| Series B to Series C | 19 | 31% |
Even hot AI companies take their time. Relevance AI, the Sydney AI agent company, raised its seed round in December 2021 and its Series A in December 2023, two years later. Its A$37M Series B led by Bessemer came 17 months after that, according to our data.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseRelevance AI's rounds, oldest first
5 deals, oldest first
| Date | Company | Round | Sector | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relevance AI | Seed | Tech | A$4.0M | finsmes.com | |
| Jun 2022 | Relevance AI | Seed | Tech | A$4.3M | galileo.ventures |
| Relevance AI | Seed | Tech | Not disclosed | dynamicbusiness.com | |
| Relevance AI | Series A | Tech | A$15M | techcrunch.com | |
| Relevance AI | Series B | Tech | A$37M | afr.com |
Seed in December 2021, Series A two years later, Series B 17 months after that.
The US is slower still. Carta data reported by SaaStr shows 39% of US startups took three years or more to get from seed to Series A by late 2025, up from 19% in 2019. SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin’s advice was blunt: “Your seed round needs to last 3+ years, not 18 months.”
Raising again within months? It’s often a bridge
Our guess: a very fast second raise is often a bridge, meaning extra money added to the last round. Lorikeet, the Sydney AI customer service startup, announced its seed round in October 2024, added an A$14M bridge in February 2025, then raised a Series A of about A$54M in August 2025. That’s seed to Series A in 10 months, with a bridge in between.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseLorikeet's rounds, oldest first
4 deals, oldest first
| Date | Company | Round | Sector | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorikeet | Seed | Tech | A$7.6M | fortune.com | |
| Lorikeet | Seed | Tech | A$5.0M | forbes.com.au | |
| Lorikeet | Bridge | Tech | A$14M | businessnewsaustralia.com | |
| Aug 2025 | Lorikeet | Series A | Tech | A$54M | smartcompany.com.au |
Seed in October 2024, an A$14M bridge four months later, Series A in August 2025.
The 2021 boom was faster again. Mr Yum, the Melbourne QR-code ordering app, went from an A$11M seed round in April 2021 to a US$65M Series A led by Tiger Global that November, seven months apart. Don’t plan on that happening to you.
Some companies wait three years or more
Harrison.ai, the Sydney medical imaging AI company, raised an A$129M Series B in November 2021, then waited more than three years for its Series C in February 2025. Chipmaker Morse Micro raised its Series B in September 2022 and its A$88M Series C three years later.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseHarrison.ai's rounds, oldest first
5 deals, oldest first
| Date | Company | Round | Sector | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2018 | Harrison.ai | Stage not stated | Tech | A$29M | smartcompany.com.au |
| Jun 2019 | Harrison.ai | Stage not stated | Tech | A$29M | Not public |
| Harrison.ai | Series B | Tech | A$129M | techcrunch.com | |
| Harrison.ai | Series C | Tech | A$174M | harrison.ai | |
| Harrison.ai | Series C | Tech | A$112M | mobihealthnews.com |
A$129M Series B in November 2021. The Series C came in February 2025, more than three years later.
Our data shows when companies raised, not why they waited. Our view: founders are making rounds last longer so they don’t have to raise at a lower price than they got in 2021. Bhavik Vashi, who runs Carta across Asia-Pacific, said the same about Australian companies in Startup Daily in August 2025. “Boards are reluctant to accept markdowns,” he wrote, so companies “have bridged balance sheets with convertible notes and insider extensions”. In his words, “the overall trend we’re seeing globally is a stretching of the whole venture cycle.”
What to do: raise for 18 months, and hire finance before the deck
Our recommendation: raise enough for at least 18 months of runway. If you’re raising a seed round, aim for more, because your Series A will probably take longer than you expect. A raise takes months to run. So if you plan to be back in market in 14 months, start preparing within six months of closing this one.
That preparation is finance work: monthly reporting investors trust, a financial model that survives due diligence, and a clean data room. Start looking for your finance lead about three months before you start the deck, so they have time to build all of it.
Then keep them. As I wrote on LinkedIn in July 2026, the job gets bigger once the money lands:
“The best finance people are actually most valuable in the 6 months after the raise, not the 6 months before it.”
If your next raise is 14 months away, the work for it starts in the six months after this one closes. To see when Australian startups make their first finance hire, round by round, read when Australian startups hire finance. If your next step is Series B, read why fewer startups are reaching Series B.
For the signs it is time, and what a first CFO costs, read when to hire a CFO.
Raising again next year? You'll need a finance lead to get you through it. We'll find you the best person.
Tom calls you back, usually within one business day. Or call 02 9099 7619.
Sources and notes
Data. All figures come from the Story Recruitment Australian Startup Funding Database: 2,548 announced Australian startup rounds across 1,522 companies, from January 2016 to early October 2026. 2026 runs from January to early October.
Time between rounds. Where a company appears more than once, we measured the months from one announcement to the next. That gives 820 gaps: median 14 months, 25th percentile 8, 75th percentile 23. Gaps run between announcement dates, not the dates money arrived. A short gap can be a bridge, an extension or the same round reported twice.
Stage to stage. We took companies whose round at a stage was announced in 2017 to 2021, so each had years to raise again, and looked for their next stage. Seed to Series A: 36 of 181 companies (20%), median 19.5 months. Series A to B: 31 of 124 (25%), median 16. Series B to C: 21 of 67 (31%), median 19. Coverage is partial, so some companies raised their next stage without it reaching us. Treat the shares as floors. Each step has fewer than 40 companies that made it, so read the months as a guide.
Named companies. Gaps for Lorikeet, Mr Yum, Harrison.ai, Morse Micro and Relevance AI are months between the announcement months of their rows in the database. Some rounds appear as two rows because two outlets reported them. Mr Yum’s April 2021 round is listed as seed in the database; TechCrunch called it a post-seed round. US dollar amounts are converted to approximate Australian dollars. The US seed to Series A figures are Carta’s, from 3,365 US startups, as reported by SaaStr, and are measured differently from ours.
Coverage. The database covers about two thirds of the market: 247 deals in 2025, against 390 in Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures’ 2025 State of Australian Startup Funding. It leans towards rounds that got press coverage, so a company whose next round went unreported looks like it never raised again. Dates come from announcement coverage, and in a spot check about 1 in 7 rows sat in a neighbouring year or month. The full method is in the explainer on how we built the database.
How to cite this: Source: Story Recruitment Australian Startup Funding Database (2016 to 2026), storyrecruitment.com.au/insights/australian-startup-funding, CC BY 4.0.
Common questions
How long between funding rounds do Australian startups usually take?
About 14 months. In the Story Recruitment Australian Startup Funding Database, half of all next rounds were announced within 14 months of the company's previous round. A quarter came within 8 months, and a quarter took more than 23.
How long does it take to go from seed to Series A in Australia?
About 20 months is typical. Relevance AI, the Sydney AI agent company, took two years: seed in December 2021, Series A in December 2023. In our data, 20% of Australian companies that raised a seed round went on to raise a Series A.
How long between a Series A and a Series B in Australia?
About 16 months is typical. Relevance AI took 17 months to go from its Series A in December 2023 to its A$37M Series B in May 2025. In our data, 25% of companies that raised a Series A went on to raise a Series B.
How much runway should I raise for?
Our view: at least 18 months, and more if you are raising a seed round. The typical gap to the next round is 14 months, seed to Series A takes about 20, and you need a few months to run the raise before the cash runs out.
When should a startup hire its first finance person before the next round?
Start the search about three months before you start the next pitch deck. Investor-ready monthly reporting, a financial model that survives due diligence and a clean data room take months to set up.
These guides set out how we see it, drawn from the searches we run and the finance leaders we work with. They are general information about the market, not financial, accounting or legal advice, and they are no substitute for advice on your own circumstances.