Average Returns for Series C Investments

• Patrick Mathieson, a venture investor at Toba Capital estimates that a "good" deal ROI for a Series C investment is 2.5 times the investment. He also notes that the target failure is about 25%.
• The VC blog VC Razor estimates that Series C returns are usually 3.3 times the investment.
• The average amount invested in Series C funding is around $50 million and the average equity stake is 15-30%.

• The average Series C fundraising amount in 2019 was $27 million and the average valuation was $103 million.

Recent Series C Rounds

• KnowBe4, a cybersecurity training company, raised $50 million in a Series C round in March 2019.
• Lemonade, a full-stack insurance company, raised $120 million in its Series C round in December 2017.
• Offerpad, a residential real estate company, raised $565 million in a Series C round in March 2019.
• Chehaoduo, a consumer-to-consumer used car marketplace company, raised $980 million in Series C funding in October 2018.
• Zynga, One Kings Lane, and Gilt are startups that fell apart shortly after series C funding.

Other Relevant Information

•  Lead investors at the Series C stage tend to be private equity firms and investment banks, which is unusual at earlier stages.
• Because of the type of investors typically involved in later stage funding, these rounds are sometimes labeled as "private equity."
• Some Series C investors include venture capital firms like New Enterprise Associates, Accel, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Bessemer Venture Partners.