VCs see hundreds of decks every month. They reject 97% of them in the first meeting. The ones that make it to a second meeting have one thing in common: the founders know their numbers cold.
Here's the framework VCs actually use to evaluate Indian B2B SaaS startups at Series A.
Series A benchmark: 15-25% month-over-month for at least 6 consecutive months.
This is the single most important metric. Consistent growth over time proves product-market fit better than any pitch deck slide.
Series A benchmark: 100-110% NRR.
NRR above 100% means your existing customers are paying you more over time — through upgrades and expansion. This is the strongest signal that your product has real value.
NRR formula: (Starting MRR + Expansion - Churn - Downgrades) ÷ Starting MRR × 100
Series A benchmark: 3x or higher.
If it costs you ₹10,000 to acquire a customer and they pay you ₹30,000 over their lifetime — your LTV:CAC is 3x. Below 3x means your unit economics don't work at scale.
Series A benchmark: 70-80% for SaaS.
Gross margin = (Revenue - Cost of Revenue) ÷ Revenue. For SaaS, cost of revenue is primarily cloud infrastructure and customer support. If your gross margin is below 60%, VCs will question whether the business can ever be profitable.
Series A benchmark: 18+ months at current burn.
Walking into a Series A with less than 12 months of runway signals desperation. VCs know you're negotiating from weakness and will price accordingly.
This is the one Indian founders consistently underestimate. Every serious VC does due diligence on GST filings, MCA compliance, and TDS returns before signing a term sheet. One missed filing can kill a deal in the final stage.
Rate yourself on each metric from 0-100, multiply by the weight, and sum up. A score above 75 means you're ready for serious Series A conversations. Below 60 means you need to fix the fundamentals first.
Compyte calculates this score automatically from your financial data and tells you exactly which metrics to improve before your next investor meeting.
Compyte calculates your VC readiness score from your real data and tells you exactly what to fix.