Series A is where the story stops being potential and starts being performance—and choosing the right partner is half the outcome. Here's the definitive, founder-first guide for the U.S. in 2025.

1) How to pick the right Series A investors (quick but accurate)

Start with your constraint. Do you need distribution, hiring, pricing/packaging help, or industrialization? Pick partners with proof they've solved that exact issue for companies like yours.
Partner–market fit beats brand. Filter for firms that have led ≥2 Series A rounds in your category in the last 24 months. Read their public theses and "why we invested" posts; mirror the way they frame value.
Ownership & reserves. Ask about target ownership at A (often 15–25%), how much they reserve for follow-ons, and whether they routinely lead pro-rata at B/C. This is what protects momentum later.
Process honesty. Who is the true decision maker? What's the typical timeline from partner meeting to term sheet? You want predictable pacing.
Board operating style. Do reference calls on how they coach, how they handle misses, and how they help recruit execs. You're picking a multi-year collaborator, not a logo.

Organize your materials in a secure data room to demonstrate professionalism and make it easy for investors to review your pitch deck and technical documentation.

How Peony Helps Series A Fundraising

Peony provides secure data rooms for Series A fundraising to organize financial documentation, track investor engagement, and demonstrate security posture with password protection and link expiry.

Organize your NRR data, gross margin analysis, and customer cohort curves in branded data rooms that signal operational maturity. See which investors spend time reviewing your financial documentation and time follow-ups perfectly.

Try Peony for your Series A fundraising — purpose-built for startups raising capital.

2) 15 Top Series A Investors in the United States (2025)

For each firm you'll get: Center of gravity, Typical Series A check, Will they lead?, What moves them, What they scrutinize, Great ways to approach. (Check sizes are indicative ranges; markets shift.)

1) Sequoia Capital (U.S. & Europe)

Center of gravity: Multi-stage; category-defining software, fintech, dev tools, infra, AI, consumer platforms.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–30M.
Lead? Yes—frequently.
What moves them: Category narratives with huge upside, world-class teams, early evidence of product-channel fit.
They scrutinize: Unit economics trendlines, founder–market fit, speed/quality of execution, path to defensibility.
Approach: Warm founder-to-founder paths from portfolio companies; arrive with a crisp "why now" and a 12–18 month proof plan.

2) Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Center of gravity: Full-stack tech (AI, infra, enterprise apps, consumer, bio, fintech, games).
Typical Series A check: ~$10–35M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Platforms with network effects or deep infra moats; top-tier technical teams.
They scrutinize: Distribution model beyond paid, quality of technical moat, hiring velocity, data advantage.
Approach: Tie KPIs to a big platform shift (AI, compute, new interfaces). Bring a clean "land → expand" motion.

3) Benchmark

Center of gravity: High-conviction, concentrated early-stage; enterprise + breakout consumer.
Typical Series A check: ~$12–25M (concentrated ownership).
Lead? Yes—classic A-lead.
What moves them: Exceptional product tempo and word-of-mouth pull; markets that look small but explode.
They scrutinize: Product quality, founder taste, signal from early users more than noisy growth hacks.
Approach: Short deck, real product. Founder references matter more than polish.

4) Greylock Partners

Center of gravity: Enterprise software, AI/ML, data, developer tools; selective consumer bets.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–25M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Technical insight that creates durable workflow lock-in; repeatable top-down or bottoms-up sales.
They scrutinize: Pipeline math, sales cycle compression, early NRR, and gross margin path.
Approach: Show how your wedge becomes the system of record or the indispensable layer in the stack.

5) General Catalyst

Center of gravity: Multi-stage platform; enterprise apps, fintech, health, AI-enabled services.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–30M.
Lead? Frequently.
What moves them: Mission + markets where GC's network opens doors (health systems, financial services).
They scrutinize: Go-to-market repeatability, leadership maturity, and the "journey to durable economics."
Approach: Pair story with a measured operating plan (hiring, payback, burn multiple).

6) Accel (U.S.)

Center of gravity: Enterprise software, security, data/infra, product-led apps; occasional consumer.
Typical Series A check: ~$8–25M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: PLG traction or crisp enterprise wedge with short time-to-value.
They scrutinize: Activation/engagement cohorts, expansion drivers, and what kills churn.
Approach: Show bottoms-up love + a scalable top-down motion (partner channels, ecosystems).

7) Lightspeed Venture Partners (U.S.)

Center of gravity: Enterprise, data/AI, cybersecurity, fintech, infra; selective consumer.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–30M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Clear "system of record" or "system of intelligence" positioning; big adjacency map.
They scrutinize: Sales efficiency, partner attach rates, pricing/packaging discipline.
Approach: Bring a partner-led GTM angle (cloud marketplaces, SI channels) and proof it's repeatable.

8) Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP)

Center of gravity: Cloud, AI, cybersecurity, fintech, vertical SaaS; rigorous benchmarking culture.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–25M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Metrics-honest stories that line up with BVP's Cloud/AI benchmarks.
They scrutinize: NRR quality, gross margin glidepath, sales productivity, and category definition.
Approach: Use their public benchmarks to frame your efficiency and growth—meet them in their language.

9) Khosla Ventures

Center of gravity: Bold tech across software, AI, deep tech, climate/bio with commercial routes.
Typical Series A check: ~$8–20M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Audacious technical advantage with a credible path to margin.
They scrutinize: Physics/econ of the moat, time-to-product truth, and how you cross from R&D to revenue.
Approach: Pair ambition with evidence. One page on cost curve + milestones earns trust.

10) Founders Fund

Center of gravity: Audacious companies across software/AI, defense, frontier, fintech.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–30M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Non-obvious insight, speed to dominance, contrarian GTM that works.
They scrutinize: Proof over polish: hard before/after ROI, velocity, hiring bar.
Approach: Big swing + crisp evidence; outline what "winning hard" looks like in 24 months.

11) Menlo Ventures

Center of gravity: Enterprise software, cybersecurity, fintech, AI-enabled applications; occasional frontier.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–25M.
Lead? Often.
What moves them: Clear buyer who urgently pays; pragmatic GTM plans.
They scrutinize: Payback, win/loss reasons, and ICP tightness.
Approach: Bring 3 design-partner stories with quantified before/after.

12) Index Ventures (U.S.)

Center of gravity: U.S.–EU bridge; enterprise apps, dev tools, fintech, productivity; consumer marketplaces.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–25M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Ambitious cross-border scale narratives and product taste.
They scrutinize: Early internationalization readiness, pricing discipline, channel leverage.
Approach: If you plan to scale U.S.↔EU, show the sequencing and the first two hires you'll make.

13) Union Square Ventures (USV)

Center of gravity: Thesis-driven investor (networks, protocols, climate/health data, enabling infra).
Typical Series A check: ~$5–15M.
Lead? Frequently at A with strong theses fit.
What moves them: Network effects and protocols with real usage; mission clarity.
They scrutinize: Community/creator dynamics, governance, and sustainable economics.
Approach: Map directly to an active USV thesis; bring evidence of bottoms-up community pull.

14) Emergence Capital

Center of gravity: Pure B2B SaaS; "industry-transforming" workflows, often the system of record.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–20M.
Lead? Yes—classic enterprise A.
What moves them: Narrow wedge that becomes a category; customer-obvious ROI.
They scrutinize: Time-to-value, champion playbook, deployment friction, and mid-market→enterprise path.
Approach: One slide on how you turn pilots into line items in 2–3 quarters.

15) Kleiner Perkins

Center of gravity: AI/infra/dev tools, climate/industrial software, consumer.
Typical Series A check: ~$10–25M.
Lead? Yes.
What moves them: Category creation and compound founders.
They scrutinize: Hiring velocity, early enterprise validation, platform adjacency.
Approach: Map the 24-month category blueprint and your unfair distribution.

3) Five quick tips for pitching Series A investors (2025)

Lead with evidence, not adjectives. One page with NRR, gross margin, CAC payback, burn multiple, and 3 customer before/after stories. Use your startup data room to organize these materials clearly.
Show a repeatable motion. Diagram your GTM engine (channels, quotas, ramp time, partner attach) and what you've already proven.
Make the category inevitable. Name the enemy (status quo), show the wedge, and sketch how you own the blueprint 12–24 months from now.
Use-of-proceeds → proof. "With $X we will achieve Y proofs in 12–18 months" (e.g., enterprise NRR >120%, 3 SI partners live, gross margin +8–12 pts).
Run a clean process. Tight data room, clear timeline, back-channel references teed up, and a crisp answer to "why now / why you." Use Peony to organize your fundraising materials and track investor engagement.

Final Thoughts

Series A fundraising in 2025 requires precision, preparation, and professional presentation. The investors listed above are actively deploying capital, but they expect founders to come prepared with clear unit economics, realistic growth plans, and evidence of product-market fit.

Series A investors evaluate not just your traction, but your ability to execute on scaling, manage operations, and build category-defining companies. Organize your startup data room, track investor engagement, and demonstrate operational maturity from day one.

Get started with Peony for your Series A fundraising — secure data rooms built for startups raising capital.

Impress Investors

Top 15 Series A Investors in United States 2025: Leading VCs and How to Pitch Them