Data and charts
The funding clock
Each stage of a venture-backed company is measured in years, and every round gives up a share of ownership.
Funding figures describe venture-backed companies, a small share of all new businesses. They are quoted one by one from the publisher.
These figures describe all new U.S. businesses, not WE's results.
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One clock for every stage
Bars show how long each published stage takes, measured from the same starting line. They are separate durations, not a chain that adds up.
- Getting started
- Funding rounds
- Staying open
- When it ends
Application to first payroll (businesses that hired within two years) 2.29 quarters on average, 2021 applications
Until a business counts as established More than three and a half years old
Seed to Series A (median gap) 2.0 years
Series A to Series B (median gap) 2.1 years
Series B to Series C (median gap) 2.4 years
Median company age raising a Series A 2.8 years old
Median company age raising a Series D 7.4 years old
Median company age raising a Series E or later 9.5 years old
Half of new establishments gone (2015 opening-year group) 50.2% still operating at year 5
Still operating at year 10 (2015 opening-year group) 34.7% still operating at year 10
Last fundraise to shutdown, venture-backed companies that closed (median) 22 months
Time since the start, in years.
Show the data as a table
| Row | Start | End | As published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application to first payroll (businesses that hired within two years) | 0 years | 0.6 years | 2.29 quarters on average, 2021 applications |
| Until a business counts as established | 0 years | 3.5 years | More than three and a half years old |
| Seed to Series A (median gap) | 0 years | 2 years | 2.0 years |
| Series A to Series B (median gap) | 0 years | 2.1 years | 2.1 years |
| Series B to Series C (median gap) | 0 years | 2.4 years | 2.4 years |
| Median company age raising a Series A | 2.8 years | 2.8 years | 2.8 years old |
| Median company age raising a Series D | 7.4 years | 7.4 years | 7.4 years old |
| Median company age raising a Series E or later | 9.5 years | 9.5 years | 9.5 years old |
| Half of new establishments gone (2015 opening-year group) | 5 years | 5 years | 50.2% still operating at year 5 |
| Still operating at year 10 (2015 opening-year group) | 10 years | 10 years | 34.7% still operating at year 10 |
| Last fundraise to shutdown, venture-backed companies that closed (median) | 0 years | 1.8 years | 22 months |
Figures describe all U.S. businesses or, for the funding rows, venture-backed companies. They are not WE’s results.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics , Release of 2026-10-14 (September 2026 data) ; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, United States Report 2019/2020 , 2020 ; Carta, State of Private Markets: Q1 2026 , 2026-05-29 ; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7 , Data through March 2025 ; CB Insights, The top reasons startups fail (2026) , 2026-03-05
Retrieved 2026-10-15. Each row is one published figure placed on the clock; bars are separate durations measured from the same start, not a chain that adds up. Carta figures are quoted one by one.
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Gaps, ages and dilution
The median gap between rounds is two years or more at every stage, and each round gives up a share of ownership.
Sources and method
Every figure is copied from the publisher or computed from published numbers by simple arithmetic, and says how. Figures that could not be verified are left out. These figures describe all new U.S. businesses, not WE's results.
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State of Private Markets: Q1 2026
What WE did. Single figures are quoted as the report prints them (medians of U.S. venture-backed companies on Carta). Nothing is re-hosted, and no figure is recomputed.
- Venture-backed companies on the Carta platform only, a small share of all new businesses.
- Medians describe companies that raised the next round; companies that did not are not in them.
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Business Formation Statistics, monthly series (bfs_monthly.csv)
What WE did. Annual totals are the sum of the twelve not-seasonally-adjusted monthly U.S. values of a series (BA_BA applications, BA_HBA high-propensity applications, BF_BF4Q and BF_BF8Q formations within four and eight quarters), by NAICS sector where the file gives one. Quarters to first payroll (BF_DUR4Q, BF_DUR8Q) are the mean of the twelve monthly values. Sector groups are sums of the file's sector codes.
- The Census Bureau revises the series each year (next revision scheduled with the October 2026 release).
- An application is a request for an employer identification number, not a launched business; a formation is the first payroll.
- Duration is measured only for applications that formed an employer business within the window.
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Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, United States Report 2019/2020
What WE did. The age at which a business counts as established ("more than three and a half years old") is quoted; 3.5 years is the same figure as 42 months.
- A definition used for counting, not an outcome.
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What WE did. Values are copied as printed: "Survival Rates Since Birth" and "Survival Rates of Previous Year's Survivors". Each opening-year group is the establishments that opened in the twelve months ended March of the year named. Ages are the number of Marches since opening.
- The unit is the establishment (one location), not the firm: a new branch of an existing company counts as an opening.
- Private employer establishments only; businesses with no employees are not covered.
- An exit is not always a failure: closures include sales, mergers and voluntary closures of healthy businesses.
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What WE did. The median of 22 months from last fundraise to shutdown is quoted as printed.
- 431 venture-backed companies that publicly shut down since 2023; self-reported post-mortems.