Series A
Also known as: Level 5, Series A Round, Institutional VC Round
The fifth and final funding level in the GAITS Funding Readiness Framework — institutional venture funding to scale a de-risked asset, where the investment thesis must be financially defensible on its own terms.
Full Definition
Series A is Level 5 of the GAITS Funding Readiness Framework and represents institutional venture funding. The funder is not evaluating whether the technology works — that question should have been answered at Seed and Seed+. The question now is whether this team can scale a de-risked asset and whether the investment thesis is financially defensible.
Scientific novelty is not sufficient at Series A. The team must be able to answer the commercial questions that institutional investors will ask: who buys it, at what price, why now, and what is the path to exit. Teams that cannot answer these questions in concrete, evidence-backed terms will not close a Series A regardless of how strong the clinical evidence is.
The primary risk being addressed at this stage is scaling and organisational reliability. Funders are evaluating whether the leadership structure operates beyond the founders, whether the team can hire and retain strong talent, and whether there is a scalable delivery model in place. Typical raise sizes are $12M–$35M for HealthTech and $8M–$20M for Digital Medicine in the US; €10M–€25M and €6M–€15M respectively in the EU. Non-dilutive instruments at this stage include BARDA advanced development contracts and ARPA-H programmes for HealthTech, and EU Digital Europe/Horizon Europe instruments for Digital Medicine.
A HealthTech company has CE-marked a surgical robotics platform, completed a 300-patient multicentre RCT showing significant reduction in operative complications, secured four hospital contracts, and has a defined go-to-market strategy targeting quaternary care centres. The leadership team includes a CEO with a prior exit, a CMO with clinical credibility, and a VP Sales hired from a direct competitor. They raise a $28M Series A led by a specialist health technology fund, with co-investment from a strategic corporate partner. The investment thesis centres on a defined path to a $150M+ exit via strategic acquisition within five years.