Growth

U.S. Completed Financings Guide 2026

  • Growth
  • Report
  • 3 minutes read
Download the U.S. Completed Financings Guide 2026 (PDF)

This report will help you to:

  1. Demystify VC term sheets by explaining what “market standard” really means and why terms vary across deals.
  2. Make data-led decisions with an independent view of market norms and how conditions shape key provisions.
  3. Use it as a practical guide with clear highlights and a detailed reference section to support real-world discussions and negotiations.

The U.S. Completed Financings Guide 2026, our first ever guide, brings deep insights into the evolving landscape in the US, equipping founders and investors with fresh data, key trends, and commercial perspectives on market norms by stage, sector and geography.

Key survey stats

  1. Data has been sourced from 7 of the top law firms who operate in this specialized space.
  2. Term Sheets are almost evenly split by representing counsel, with investor-side at 51% and company-side at 49%.
  3. By deal size, the sample is concentrated in mid-range rounds: $10–25M and $25–100M each represent 23%, $0–5M and $5–10M are 21% each, and $100M+ accounts for 12%.

"HSBC Innovation Banking’s Financings Guide 2026 brings much-needed transparency to what’s truly ‘market standard’ in U.S. venture term sheets—grounded in anonymized, final, signed deals across Pre-Seed through Series C+."

Jim Marshall | Head of Tech Investor Coverage, HSBC Innovation banking U.S.

Survey size

Survey size

Key findings

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AI-native outperformance
In 2025, AI-native companies outperformed, with double the likelihood of raising an up-round versus non-AI peers. Despite higher capital and valuations, cap table structures remain broadly similar across both groups.

Liquidation Preferences
The market shows a clear preference around a standardized set of terms for liquidation preference: 1.0x multiple (93%), non-participation (86%) and Pari Passu seniority (79%).

Seed SAFE-ty
SAFE notes cover nearly one-third of fundraisings below $5M rounds raised by the start-up, thereby punting valuation risks until larger investors lead priced rounds.

Thank you to the participating firms

Participating firms
Download the U.S. Completed Financings Guide 2026

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