When investing in startups online, the amount raised plays a critical role in growth – and ultimately the success of an investment, with larger raises often leading to stronger performance. While a lower burn rate can justify smaller raises, companies ultimately need capital to spend, take risks, and grow.
To explore how funding amounts vary, we analyzed the top five platforms with the most raises, focusing on companies that started and closed their raises between July 2023 and December 2024. We visualized the amounts raised using a box chart, showing the minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum raised on each platform. While maximums may vary slightly with different timeframes, the other metrics provide a clear picture of recent platform performance.
  • Failure rates: Every platform had deals that raised $0 due to failure or withdrawal, but at least 25% of raises on NetCapital resulted in no funds raised.
  • Lower quartiles: On Wefunder, StartEngine, and Republic, 75% of companies raised around $60,000 or more, with slight variations. On Dealmaker, however, 75% raised at least $100,000.
  • Median performance: The median raise on Republic is slightly higher than on Wefunder, but 50% of companies on StartEngine raised at least twice the median amount seen on these competitors, thus $200k or more.
  • Upper quartiles: On Wefunder, 25% of companies raised $280,000 or more. This figure increases to $540,000 on StartEngine and over $1.3 million on Dealmaker.
  • Maximum raises: In this sample, the highest raise was $1.3 million on NetCapital, $4.2 million on Republic, $4.4 million on Wefunder, and $5 million on StartEngine, with all three last nearing the Reg CF $5 million cap. Dealmaker, which features more Reg A+ deals, saw issuers raise up to $20 million.
These discrepancies between platforms stem from several factors. The investor pool and their available capital directly impact raise amounts. Platform strategies also play a role; Wefunder, for instance, hosts 44% more companies than StartEngine in the selected time, which could potentially lower its median raise by spreading investor attention across more deals. Additionally, startups on StarEngine tend to be more mature than on Wefunder, thus explaining that they need – and end up raising, more funding. Marketing support also varies, with some platforms offering in-house services to boost results.
Dealmaker stands out as an outlier. Unlike marketplace-style platforms, it operates as a white-label solution, allowing companies to raise independently, often leading to larger raises, particularly through Reg A+ offerings.