Glossary
Raise velocity
Definition of raise velocity, the dollars per day a securities offering brings in, and why it usually follows a bathtub curve over a raise.
Raise velocity is the rate at which money comes into a securities offering, measured in dollars per day. It is read daily during a live raise and compared over time, because the trend shows whether the raise is speeding up, holding, or stalling, well before the final total is known.
The bathtub curve
Plotted across a raise, velocity usually forms a bathtub curve: high at the open, low and flat through a long middle, and high again at the close.
- The open converts the audience built before launch through testing the waters, plus any anchor investors lined up for day one. Platforms often feature new offerings, and early momentum on the page draws more investors.
- The middle sags once the warm audience has invested. Cold paid traffic converts more slowly, and with no deadline in sight, interested people put off deciding.
- The close rises again on a real deadline, perks or bonus tiers that end, a closing campaign across every channel, and the investors who were waiting until the last moment.
Published research on the pattern comes from rewards crowdfunding, where studies of Kickstarter projects found the same U-shape in backer activity. In equity raises it is a pattern practitioners report rather than one with a large published dataset.
Why it matters to a raise
Velocity is the number that tells a team when to act. A falling velocity in the middle is expected, not a sign of failure, and cutting ad spend in response usually makes the middle deeper. A closing campaign planned in advance is how a raise captures the rise at the end. See investor acquisition, cost per investor, and rolling closes.