Every month we use Harmonic to look at every company in the US and Europe that raised a Series A, B, or C and ask a simple question: who seeded them?
We identified all companies across the US and Europe that announced a Series A, B, or C round and had at least one prior seed or pre-seed round on record. We then traced every institutional investor (VC funds, angel groups, venture studios) that participated in those seed rounds.
Each seed-to-upround conversion is scored using three factors – all derived from the April round itself:
Stage Weight – Series C = 3x, Series B = 2x, Series A = 1x. Later-stage conversions are harder to reach and signal stronger company trajectories.
Round Size Weight – Rather than using fixed dollar thresholds, we calibrate against the month’s actual distribution. A $100M Series A is exceptional; a $100M Series C is slightly above average. The scoring reflects that:
These thresholds recalibrate every month from the actual round data – so the scoring stays relevant as the market shifts.
Lead Bonus – If the fund led the original seed round, the score gets a 1.5x multiplier. Leading a seed requires pricing discipline and conviction – worth rewarding when that bet pays off.
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The composite score is Stage × Size × Lead Bonus, stacked across all hits in the month. Tier-1 mega-funds (a16z, Sequoia, Benchmark, etc.) are excluded – the signal is more interesting in the middle of the market.
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Again, this is not a fund ranking. We don’t have AUM data for most funds, and we don’t know which fund vehicle made the investment. What we do have is a monthly conversion signal – a real-time view of which seed investors are seeing their portfolio companies break through to significant later-stage rounds.
Over time, the signal compounds. A fund that appears once could be lucky. A fund that shows up three months in a row with multiple hits is telling you something about the quality of their picking.