The SaaS VC Report 2025
Our annual ranking of the top 400 software venture capital firms.
It’s Ryan Allis at SaasRise, the community for SaaS CEOs and founders.
Today we have The 2025 SaaS VC Report. We cover valuations, amounts invested, deal revenue multiples, EBITDA multiples, and our annual ranking of the Top 400 Global SaaS VCs.
Let’s jump right into the report, which might just be the most detailed report we’ve ever written. My goal is to give you a full briefing of the SaaS venture capital landscape for 2025.
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The 2025 SaaS VC Report: The Top 400 SaaS Venture Capital Firms
By Ryan Allis and Salman Hatta
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Ryan Allis is the CEO and co-founder of SaasRise, the community for SaaS CEOs & founders. Ryan founded and grew iContact as CEO to $50M ARR, sold it for $169M, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. Today, Ryan coaches SaaS CEOs in rapidly scaling up revenue, building their teams, and preparing for and executing on $100M+ exits. Salman Hatta is the VP of Member Success and co-founder of SaasRise. Prior to SaasRise, he spent his career in B2B SaaS at Marqeta and Adyen, was an investment banker at Deloitte and the World Bank/IFC, and earned an MBA from Wharton. |
We’ve updated our global SaaS VC Firm rankings for 2025 to cover the Top 400 SaaS VC firms.
We’re excited to present and share the rankings and our findings in the space for members to digest and ultimately use this information to set themselves up for success in raising equity growth capital in 2025.
This year, we did the rankings by firm AUM, investment count, and number of exits as well as by our own Power Ranking Formula. You can see the full rankings here.
Key SaaS Venture Capital Stats
For this exercise, we performed a fresh run of data from Pitchbook to come up with the information that we’re presenting to you today. And now, we present the following summarized software VC stats:
In 2024 in software venture capital…
Total VC investment was $125 billion, up 29% from a year ago in 2023
The median Series A investment was $12.0M on a $39.9M pre-money valuation (23.1% ownership)
The median Series B investment was $30.0M on a $168.2M pre-money valuation (15.1% ownership)
The median Series C investment was $35.0M on a $225M pre-money valuation (13.7% ownership)
The median revenue multiple for all software venture investment rounds was 10.1x, down slightly from 11.3x in 2023
There were 8,188 venture deals – down 18% from 9,944 in 2023.
However the average venture deal size was meaningfully larger ($15.3M in 2024 vs. 9.7M in 2023), leading to more overall software venture investment.
As of February 2025, the total amount of assets under management by the top 400 global SaaS VCs is $1.286 trillion (yep, that’s trillion with a T).
The total amount of dry powder in the top 400 global SaaS VCs is $260 billion. There is plenty of equity capital out there available for SaaS firms that are growing ARR at venture-backable rates (50%+ annually).
The top three active SaaS VC firms by Total AUM are Sequoia ($85B), Shenzhen Capital Group ($65B), and Tiger Global ($56B).
San Francisco is the #1 city in the world for software VC firm capital with $567B in AUM, representing 48.9% of the total AUM among the top 400 global SaaS VC firms – followed by New York City (10.0%), Beijing (9.8%), Shenzhen (7.1%).
Two countries, the U.S. (66.7%) and China (18.7%) represent the large majority of the AUM for software-focused venture capital firms, followed by the UK (2.5%).
The 2025 SaaS VC Rankings
Research Methodology: For these rankings, we reviewed the top 400 global software VC firms by investment count, which required firms to have made 167 or more software investments to qualify. The research inputs behind these rankings was compiled primarily from Pitchbook with some additional external research.
To view and download our full 2025 rankings of all 400 firms, see the below Google Sheet tabs.
Top 400 SaaS VC Firms - Power Rankings (counts investments, exits, & AUM)
Let’s get right to it. Here are the top 20 software VCs by investment count, number of exits, and AUM.
If we give equal 33% weighting to software investment count, 33% weighting to AUM, and 33% weighting to number of software exits to create a Software VC Power Ranking, the top 25 list becomes:
These 25 firms together control $572 billion and have over $116B in dry powder. 18 of the top 25 firms are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 3 in China, 1 in New York, 1 in London, 1 in Austin, and 1 in Bangalore.
While the market has cooled from its pandemic-era peak, software VC funding remains resilient with deal count similar to the 2014-2017 average, with total capital deployed up due to average deal size going up.
Now let’s look at total investment amounts by year in software venture capital (in billions). As you can see, there was $125 billion invested in software venture capital globally in 2024, up 28.8% over 2023.
While down from the peak of $297 billion in 2021 driven by low interest rates, abundant capital, and pandemic-accelerated digital adoption, capital investment in 2024 was still 29% higher than the $97 billion invested in 2023 and largely in line with the $134 billion average invested annually from 2015-2024.
After investors pulled back dealmaking in 2023 due to rising inflation and interest rates, — they now seem more ready to redeploy the capital left over on the sidelines and get back in the game.
One obvious trend we’re noticing is that total deal counts decreased in 2024 compared to the year prior, but total investment size increased: fewer deals, but larger average check sizes. Higher conviction deals in favorable sectors (AI) were more prominent as compared to speculative deals that were more common in the past.
Let’s see how the money breaks down between Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, and Series D-E-F+ rounds.
As the rapidly growing category of AI software is a subset of software, we expect to see major continual growth in software VC investment in 2025-2027.
How Software Valuations Have Changed
Venture valuations for software firms reached strong levels in 2021/2022 and pulled back in 2023 before rebounding to new records in 2024.
Here are the median pre-money valuations per round over the last eleven years for Series A, B, and C startups.
You can see that Series A median pre-money valuations have bounced back in the last year to the highest amount in history at $39.9 million (up 33% from 2023).
Since 2021, the median pre-money valuations have been at least $30 million and generally increasing, indicating that investors are very much willing to pay a premium for high growth early-stage startups. In particular, the AI boom has influenced this trend.
Similarly, Series B median pre-money valuations rebounded in 2024 to $168.2M (+20%) after a down year in 2023 from peak COVID-era valuations. Investors are returning to Series B funding, but more cautiously and less aggressively than before, meaning startups must demonstrate strong financial fundamentals and growth efficiency to justify these higher valuations.
Series C median pre-money valuation in 2024 is $225M, still well below the $320M peak in 2021. After steep drops in 2022 and 2023, valuations appear to be stabilizing, suggesting that late-stage funding is recovering but not overheated. Investors may be less willing to take risks on later-stage companies unless they have clear paths to profitability or exit opportunities.
The percentage of shares sold (technically speaking created newly and then sold) in venture deals has also declined over time from 2014-2024 with each successive round usually requiring slightly less equity to be sold (26% in 2014 to 23% in 2024 in Series A, 23% to 15% in Series B, and 17% to 14% in Series C).
Hot SaaS Sectors for VC in 2025
Not all parts of the SaaS market were equal in the eyes of investors. In 2024, venture capital concentrated heavily in certain “hot” sub-sectors of SaaS, where growth potential and innovation were seen as strongest. Here are some of the SaaS sub-sectors that attracted the most VC investment and are poised for further 2025 growth:
AI-Driven SaaS: The influence of artificial intelligence on venture funding in 2024 cannot be overstated. AI was the hottest theme, and SaaS companies harnessing AI saw tremendous investor interest. AI companies represented 37% of all venture funding in 2024, an all-time high share. Investors were eager to fund SaaS applications that integrated generative AI or machine learning to create new value. This included everything from AI-powered business analytics, to GPT-4-based writing assistants, to machine learning platforms offered as a service. Essentially, if a SaaS startup could pitch that AI significantly enhanced its product, it had a much easier time fundraising in 2024.
Fintech SaaS: In 2024, fintech and financial services continued to be among the top-funded sectors in venture although investments were more measured: many startups in this area had to show a clear path to revenue (some of the froth from crypto/blockchain faded, but core B2B fintech stayed solid). Sub-sectors that saw investment included B2B payments and billing SaaS, neobanking and finance back-end software, regtech (regulatory compliance SaaS), and vertical fintech SaaS (software for specific financial niches).
Cybersecurity SaaS: Security-focused SaaS solutions were extremely attractive to investors in 2024, continuing a multi-year trend. With the rise in cyber threats (ransomware, data breaches, etc.), companies are spending more on cybersecurity, and VCs want in on that action. Cloud security, zero-trust networking, identity and access management, and security automation are examples of cyber sub-sectors that saw big funding.
The Best Locations for Software VC
The top ten cities for software venture capital firm headquarters are San Francisco, NYC, Beijing, Shenzhen, London, Seoul, Boston, Shanghai, and Singapore. Let’s see how this breaks down in terms of percentages.
It remains that the top five cities (SF, NYC, Beijing, Shenzhen, London) represent nearly 80% of the world’s VC firm headquarters. This year we saw Seoul break into the list as a robust startup ecosystem is attracting a lot of active VC capital.
The United States and China continue to lead the world for the VC Firm HQ countries, representing over 85% of total software AUM, with no other country even close. As AI continues to dominate the VC headlines, and companies like DeepSeek in China rivalling OpenAI, it’s likely that the Chinese VC AUM figures continue to grow in the next few years.
Which global region is winning? Well among the top 400 software VC firms globally, the AUM by region was the following – clearly, the U.S. and China make up an outsized portion of the not only their continents, but also the world:
As noted, our research reviewed the top 400 software VC firms by investment count, which required firms to have made at least 167 software investments to qualify for this year’s rankings, so there’s more capital in Europe, South America, Oceania, and Africa within firms that have made 166 or fewer software investments that is not fully counted here.
That said, among the top 400 software VC firms by investment count, North America and Asia represent nearly 95% of the world’s software venture capital. While North America has long been the epicenter of software VC, Asia’s rapid ascent signals a global power shift, with countries like China, India, and South Korea becoming formidable players in software entrepreneurship.
This dynamic highlights a world where technological leadership is increasingly a two-continent race, shaping the future of digital economies and global market competition.
The Top North American Software VCs
Here are the top 20 SaaS VCs for North America by investment count according to our latest research via Pitchbook. Accel is leading the way, with 1,920 software investments and is closely followed by Sequoia Capital. A16z, Gaingels, and NEA round out the top 5.
The Top Asian Software VCs
Here are the top 20 SaaS VCs for Asia by investment count. HongShan Capital is leading the way with 898 software investments so far. The top 12 is dominated by Beijing-based VC firms.
The Top European Software VCs
Here are the top 20 SaaS VCs for Europe by investment count. Enterprise Ireland is leading the way with 1,640 software investments so far. While London has the most firms, the top VCs in Europe are distributed more broadly compared to the US and Asia.
SaaS VC Deal Revenue Multiples Remain Strong
Because of the compelling business model of SaaS (recurring revenue annuity streams), SaaS firms command a higher revenue multiple than most industries.
Considering that a venture-backable SaaS company is likely growing revenues at between 50%-200% per year, it’s no surprise that revenue multiples for venture-backed SaaS firms are higher than the average company.
In 2024, median revenue multiples for venture-backed SaaS companies remained steady around 10x ARR, consistent with trends from recent years. However, it’s crucial to note that these valuations apply primarily to top-performing, high-growth SaaS firms that attract venture funding. For the majority of SaaS businesses with moderate growth rates, valuation multiples tend to fall within a more conservative 2x to 5x ARR range.
SaaS revenue multiples hit their peak in 2022 at 11.8x before settling back down to 10.1x in 2024. While they’ve cooled off from the highs of 2021-2022, they’re still well above where they were in the mid-2010s, when multiples hovered between 7-8x.
Even with the recent decline, SaaS valuations remain elevated compared to most industries. Investors continue to pay a premium for recurring cloud revenue, recognizing its long-term stability and scalability. The correction from peak levels doesn’t change the fact that SaaS is still one of the most attractive business models in venture capital.
Public SaaS Multiples Strengthening to 7.5x Revenue
According to Bessemer Venture Partners Cloud Index, the median revenue multiple of a publicly traded SaaS company is 7.5x in February 2025 as of the time of this writing, down from a peak of 18.43x in September 2021. It makes sense that these multiples would be lower in public companies, as the firms in their index are larger and thus don’t grow as quickly. The average publicly traded firm in the BVP Cloud Index is growing at 16.5% annually.
We see similar data in the SEG SaaS Index, which is showing an average public company SaaS revenue multiple of 6.6x.
What Revenue Multiple to Expect For Your SaaS Firm
What revenue multiple can you expect for your SaaS firm in a venture round or at an exit? Well, it depends on how fast you’re growing and your level of profitability. Here’s a handy chart designed to give you some rules of thumb, based on your rule of 40 calculation (which adds together your annual revenue growth % plus your EBITDA %.
Actual multiples achieved will vary of course based on gross margin, churn rates, industry subsector, and venture deal competition.
Check out the free SEG SaaS Valuation Scorecard for the 20 Factors that go into estimating a firm’s valuation.
SaaS VC Outlook for 2025 and Beyond
Looking ahead, SaaS venture capital is expected to maintain steady growth, with AI-driven SaaS likely to continue attracting the majority of new funding. Investors are becoming more selective but remain highly bullish on the SaaS sector, recognizing its scalability and recurring revenue potential. With $260 billion in dry powder, the coming years present strong opportunities for well-positioned SaaS startups.
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