One thing that stood out to me as I analyzed The Information’s Creator Economy Database for our latest story was the increase in the number of rounds that were extensions to previous rounds, which means investors poured more money into existing investments while generally maintaining prior deal terms. 

Those rounds have murky labels, like extension or plus round, or more simply “early stage” or “late stage.” They’re a product of a trend we saw accelerate in 2022: Startup founders who wanted to avoid raising a new round, at a possibly lower valuation, convinced investors to add funding to their existing rounds. 

At least 18 global creator startups that announced funding in 2022 disclosed extensions of previous rounds, or didn’t name their round of funding. Seven of those were announced in the fourth quarter of the year. That annual count is 33% higher than in 2021, according to an analysis of the database. Announcements often lag when the deal closed, especially for early-stage companies.