Research by ScaleWise reveals that only 2% of startups now progress from Seed to Series A, down from 8% over the past 18 months.
A report, Bridging the Gap: The Graduation Crisis in Early-Stage Start-ups, based on Crunchbase data and a survey of 100 startup leaders, identifies key challenges: weak go-to-market strategies, poor hiring decisions, and inflated views of Product-Market Fit.
Many founders are struggling to convert their strategy into repeatable, structured action that investors trust.
The issue lies not with ambition, but with execution, according to the findings.
Author's summary: Startup success rates decline to 2%.