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For the startup studio research 2023, I took the original database by James Moran and collected additional info about startups of venture studios using Crunchbase and other open sources: years of rounds of fundraising / acquisitions / IPOs.
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I colored additional lines and columns (here and in the Startups tab) and made minor corrections in the original data when it was obvious that there were mistakes.

I calculated the average time to get to the Seed, Series A / B / C, acquisition, and IPO for venture studio startups.

I used the first one for the year when there were several same-stage rounds or acquisitions.

In the sample of studio startups, there are only those startups where the year of foundation as well as the year of acquisition/round is known.
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Sample of studio startups (that has both dates to analyze)Median foundation year in the sampleDescriptionResultComparison with non-studio startups*
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636 startups2018
Median time from foundation to Seed Round
1.49 years3.03 years (as of 2018 for max aligning with the sample)
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319 startups2017Median time from Seed to Series A1.26 years603 days or 1.65 years (2022 for max aligning with the sample)
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319 startups2017Median time from foundation to Series A2.75 years4.68 years
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186 startups2016Median time from Series A to Series B0.85 years720 days or 1.97 years (2023)
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186 startups2016Median time from foundation to Series B3.70 years6.65 years
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92 startups2015Median time from Series B to Series C0.85 years740 days or 2.02 years (2023)
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92 startups2015Median time from foundation to Series C4.59 years8.67 years
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182 startups2014
Median time from foundation to acquisition
4.98 years
7.38 years: from foundation to seed 2.32 years (2016 for aligning) + from first funding to M&A 5.06 years (2021 for aligning)
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22 startups2011Median time from foundation to IPO7.5 years10.83 years
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* To enhance the accuracy of comparing studio startups with conventional ones, I focused on aligning foundation years. Although I couldn't find data on the time from foundation to Seed for 2021-2022, I utilized data from 2018. Given the increasing time-to-seed trend in previous years, such a choice will unlikely present startup studios in the best light.

I didn't find the time from foundation to Seed for 2021-2022 years, that's why I used the 2018-year data still the previous years showed an upward trend in the median time from foundation to Seed, that's why I suppose that this comparison despite the difference in years, hardly presents the startup studios in the best light.

To align with the 2017-founded startups that reached Series A in our sample, I referred to Carta's 2022 data on the time from Seed to Series A. I worked on an assumption of a 3-year period from foundation to Seed, with an additional 2 years approximately to Series A. I used a similar approach for the Series B and C comparisons. Since 2024/2025/2026 data isn't available, I relied on the most recent data for Series B and Series C comparison.

The median foundation year for acquired studio startups was 2014. Consequently, I looked at the 2016 data, noting a median time of 2.32 years from foundation to Seed. Statista indicates that from 2005 to 2022, the median time from initial funding to M&A grew from 4.7 to 5.1 years. Thus, combining the 2016 figure with the time needed for acquisition, I deduced the median time for 2021 as approximately 5.06 years.

The average foundation year in the studio startup sample among IPO companies is 2011. I used three sources (1, 2, 3) to calculate a weighted average score, which is about for the 2021 year.

It's worth noting that I didn't account for geographical variances in samples. However, other research based on the same Venture Studio Index Database suggests that industry, country, and studio-founding year have minimal influence on studio outcomes.

Lastly, potential "right-hand censoring" issues might exist in my analysis, so a survival analysis methodology may show more appropriate results.

I plan to conduct better research with an analytics team and publish it in 2024.
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Updated: August 11, 2023
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https://linkedin.com/in/maxpog
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The Venture Studio Index is a free, public database of venture studios and their startups intended for founders,
operators and investors working with venture studios.
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Learn more here http://venturestudioindex.com/
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This data is sourced from studio portfolio pages, press releases, LinkedIn, Crunchbase and feedback from the community.
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Methodology and data limitations
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Please leave comments with any corrections, additions and feedback or email data@venturestudioindex.com
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Last updated: March 28, 2023
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