How big are investor checks at pre-seed, seed and Series A?

• Median pre-seed check range: $120K to $625K (7,430 investors with a check size).
• 51% of pre-seed investors with a check size start in the $50K–$250K band.
• The floor barely moves from pre-seed to seed; the ceiling rises from $625K to $2.5M.
• Investors who start at Series A list a median minimum of $1M.
• Outside CA, NY and MA, pre-seed investors list tighter ranges, so plan for several checks.

Key findings

• The typical pre-seed investor in our database lists a minimum check of $120K and a maximum of $625K (medians across 7,430 US pre-seed investors with a stated check size).
• 3,820 of those 7,430 pre-seed investors (51%) start in the $50K–$250K band. That is the core of most pre-seed rounds.
• Seed investors list a median minimum of $150K and a median maximum of $2.5M. The ceiling moves far more than the floor.
• Investors whose earliest stage is Series A list a median minimum of $1M, roughly 5 times the median for investors whose earliest stage is seed.
• Outside California, New York and Massachusetts, pre-seed investors list a median range of $150K to $250K, a narrower band than the $100K to $1M range in those three states.

Why check size decides who you pitch

Stage tells you whether an investor will look at a company like yours. Check size tells you whether they can actually fit into your round. A fund that writes $2M minimum checks cannot join a $750K pre-seed round without owning too much of it, and an angel who writes $25K cannot lead a $3M seed. Founders outside the usual circuit often lose months pitching investors whose stage matches but whose check does not. This report shows what US startup investors in the Zalarma investor database, as of 2026-11-01 say they write, stage by stage, so you can size your target list before you send a single email.

Check sizes by stage listed

Each row counts every investor who lists that stage, so an investor who lists pre-seed, seed and Series A appears in all three rows. Minimum and maximum are the low and high ends of the range each record lists.

Two patterns stand out. The median minimum barely moves between pre-seed ($120K), seed ($150K) and Series A ($100K), because many investors list a wide range that spans several stages. The median maximum climbs from $625K at pre-seed to $2.5M at seed and $5M at Series A. In practice, the investor who will write $120K into your pre-seed round may write several times that into your seed round if things go well.

A cleaner view: the earliest stage each investor lists

To separate the stages, we grouped each investor by the earliest stage they list. An investor who lists seed and Series A counts only as seed here. This is a better guide to who writes the opening check in a round at each stage.

The step-ups are sharp. Investors whose earliest stage is seed list a median minimum of $200K. Those who start at Series A list $1M, and those who start at Series B or later list $2M. If an investor's earliest listed stage is Series A, a pre-seed pitch is usually a poor use of both sides' time, whatever their sector.

How checks are spread across bands

We placed each investor in one band using the low end of their listed range (or the high end when only one number is listed). Shares are of investors at that stage who list a check size.

At pre-seed, more than half of investors with a stated check start in the $50K–$250K band, and 1,546 start under $50K. That is why most pre-seed rounds are assembled from several checks rather than one. At Series B and later, 43% of investors with a check size start at $1M or more.

Check sizes by investor type

Different kinds of investors write very different checks at the same stage. The table shows median minimum and maximum checks for pre-seed and seed.

Angels cluster tightly: a median of $150K to $250K at seed. Venture firms and their partners list a low minimum ($100K) but a high maximum ($5M), which reflects partners who write small early checks and reserve more for later rounds. Family offices that list a stage and a check size are few in our data, but those that do list large minimums ($1.6M at seed). Accelerators list $100K to $375K at pre-seed.

Outside the big three states

Comparing investors based outside California, New York and Massachusetts with those inside them:

• Pre-seed, outside: median $150K to $250K (2,759 investors with a check size).
• Pre-seed, CA/NY/MA: median $100K to $1M (4,421).
• Seed, outside: median $150K to $1M (5,954).
• Seed, CA/NY/MA: median $100K to $5M (11,595).

Investors outside the big three tend to list tighter ranges. The typical local pre-seed investor writes a $150K to $250K check, which is about what an angel or a small regional fund can put in one company. Plan your round as several of these checks, not one large one.

What to do with this

1. Size the round first. Decide the amount and how many checks you need. A $750K pre-seed at a typical $120K to $250K check means roughly four to six investors.
2. Filter out mismatches early. Drop investors whose minimum is more than about a third of your round, unless you want them to lead.
3. Find a lead whose range covers 25–50% of the round. Then fill with angels and smaller funds. Our pre-seed playbook covers the order.
4. Ask, do not assume. A listed range is what the investor states publicly. Confirm it on your intro call.

Browse investors by stage: pre-seed, seed and Series A.

Methods note

Data: Zalarma investor database, as of 2026-11-01. The universe is 33,282 US startup-investor records (angels and syndicates, venture firms and partners, micro-VCs, family offices, corporate VCs and accelerators), out of 85,848 investor and firm records in total. Stage comes from each record's listed stages; one record can list several. Check size comes from the minimum and maximum check each record lists; records with no check size are left out of the medians. Medians and percentiles are of listed values, not of actual deals, and many records list round numbers. Bands use the minimum (or the maximum when no minimum is listed). The comparison of regions uses each record's state. Counts under 10 are suppressed and not shown, and no medians are given for groups under 10. These are records in our database, not a census of every US investor.