What metrics do I need to raise seed in India?

For SaaS: ₹20–50 lakh MRR or strong pipeline evidence, 5–20 paying customers, and clear product-market fit signals. For consumer: 10,000–100,000 active users with retention data. For marketplace: GMV trajectory and supply/demand lock-in evidence. But extraordinary founders can raise on less.

How long should a seed round fund?

18–24 months minimum. The mistake most Indian founders make: raising too little seed capital and running out of runway 12 months later without Series A-ready metrics. Better to dilute slightly more for 24 months of runway than optimize for dilution and miss the growth window.

What is the difference between a seed fund and a micro-VC?

The terms overlap. Micro-VCs are typically funds under $50M (₹400 crore) that focus on seed and pre-seed. In India, dedicated seed funds like Blume, India Quotient, and 100X.VC are sometimes called micro-VCs. The distinction matters less than whether the fund's stage, check size, and thesis match your startup.

Glossary

Seed Funding

Name: AletheiaAI
Author: Amit Tyagi

Early-stage institutional funding typically ranging ₹1–10 crore, raised after an MVP exists and initial traction has been validated.

By Amit Tyagi, Fitoor Capital · AletheiaAI Glossary

Definition

Seed funding is the first institutional round for most startups — raised after the MVP exists, early customers or users are acquired, and the founding team has initial signal on product-market fit. It funds the transition from "does this work?" to "can this scale?"

Typical use of seed capital: scaling the product team, initial sales/marketing experiments, reaching the traction milestone that makes a Series A conversation possible. Seed investors — typically angel networks, micro-VCs, and seed-stage funds — usually take 10–20% ownership.

The global distinction between seed and pre-seed has blurred. In the US, "seed" can now mean $2–5M; in India, the convention is roughly: pre-seed = first ₹2 crore, seed = ₹2–10 crore, pre-Series A = ₹10–25 crore (a bridge that Indian founders use frequently).

India Context

India's seed stage is served by dedicated seed funds: Blume Ventures, India Quotient, 100X.VC, Titan Capital, Gemba Capital, and the seed programs of larger funds like Accel and Elevation. The seed round in India typically happens at post-money valuations of ₹15–60 crore, with outliers in both directions.

A specific India challenge: the "seed-to-Series A gap." Many Indian startups raise ₹2–5 crore at seed, spend 12–18 months building, and then don't quite have the metrics for a ₹25–50 crore Series A. They fall into a no-man's-land that requires a pre-Series A bridge round.

Example

A B2B SaaS startup raises a ₹4 crore seed round at ₹20 crore pre-money (17% dilution) from a seed fund and 3 angels. The capital funds 18 months of runway: 2 engineers, 1 sales hire, and initial customer acquisition. They aim to reach ₹1 crore ARR and 20 paying customers by month 18 — the target metrics for a Series A conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Terms

Series A

The first significant institutional funding round, typically ₹15–100 crore, rais…

Pre-Seed Funding

The earliest institutional funding a startup raises — typically ₹25 lakh to ₹2 c…

Burn Rate

How much cash a startup spends each month, net of revenue — the pace at which it…

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