Growth
Venture Capital Term Sheet Guide 2025
- Growth
- Report
- 4 minutes read
This report will help you to:
- Get a better, more independent understanding of the market standard for term sheets based on a large sample size of deals. You’ll also gain some transparency and insight designed to help level the playing field for both founders and investors.
- Gain understanding of term sheet terms. Legal jargon can be confusing, especially for first time founders, so we aim to demystify it.
- Understand some key commercial and practical take aways, including top tips for negotiation, to ensure founders get a fair and good deal.
The 2025 Venture Capital Term Sheet Guide, our third in this annual series, aims to empower founders with an objective view of deal information so that they can negotiate the market with confidence.
Key survey stats
- 588 (532 UK HQ companies) anonymised equity term sheets.
- Represents 1/3 of all UK venture capital equity deals that occurred in 2024 above £0.5m as per Pitchbook.
- Data was sourced from 27 law firms who operate in this specialised space.
Glen Waters l Head of Early Stage Tech & Life Sciences, HSBC Innovation Banking"The Seed stage is the prime opportunity to set deal terms for the best terms in the future. I hope this report, as well as encouraging founders to get a good lawyer, will help founders set up for future success."
What is the Venture Capital Term Sheet Guide?
Survey size
Key findings
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Seed investment has surged
Sophisticated and international investors are increasingly engaging at the early stage. That’s driving a highly competitive market characterised by less structure and more founder-friendly terms. |
Investor risk appetite is rising at the later stage
These more structured deals are being executed on average at lower valuations, with more investor friendly terms with enhanced downside protection and safeguards against down rounds. |
The “scale up gap” remains
While 70% of Seed and 59% of Series A investments were led by UK-based investors, c. 80% of late stage (Series C+, £30m) deals into UK HQ companies came from international investors – up from 51% in 2023. |
Thank you to the participating firms
This material including, without limitation to the statistical information herein, is provided for informational purposes only. The material is based, in part, on information from third-party sources that we believe to be reliable but, which have not been independently verified by us and, for this reason, we do not represent that the information is accurate or complete. The information should not be viewed as tax, investment, legal or other advice, nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision. Nothing relating to the material should be construed as a solicitation, offer or recommendation to acquire or dispose of any investment or to engage in any other transaction.
Resources
Venture Capital Term Sheet Guide 2025
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