## What is Pre-Seed Funding? Pre-seed is the funding stage before seed round. It supports the earliest company formation—validating ideas, building prototypes, and getting to initial traction. Pre-seed rounds have become more common and formalized in recent years. ## Pre-Seed Characteristics | Aspect | Typical Range | |--------|---------------| | Amount | $50K - $500K | | Valuation | $1M - $5M | | Stage | Idea to MVP | | Investors | Angels, micro-VCs, studios | ## What Pre-Seed Funds - Founder salaries for 6-12 months - MVP development - Initial customer discovery - Early hires (if any) - Basic operations ## Pre-Seed vs Seed | Pre-Seed | Seed | |----------|------| | Pre-product or MVP | Working product | | Unproven concept | Initial traction | | 1-2 founders | Small team | | Angels, studios | Seed VCs | ## Venture Studio Advantage Studios often provide pre-seed capital internally, eliminating the need for external pre-seed fundraising and allowing startups to reach seed stage faster.