The Make-Or-Break Series C

When Uber raised its Series C round in 2013, its value soared by 10 times, from about $347 million to $3.5 billion. But companies that raised C rounds after Uber also experienced sharp increases in valuation, suggesting the Uber round reset valuation levels broadly.

The Information asked CB Insights for historical fundraising and valuation data on Uber, Square, Snapchat, Stripe, Pinterest and Zenefits. What we found: In all cases, the C round was critical—the point where startups broke the billion-dollar valuation mark.