A bridge round is a smaller financing meant to extend a company's runway until it can either raise a larger round or hit a specific milestone that earns better terms. Bridges are typically funded by existing investors using SAFEs or convertible notes rather than a fully priced round. They provide roughly three to twelve months of extra runway to close the gap between where the company is now and its next major fundraise or revenue milestone.
Bridges make sense when a company needs a limited amount of extra runway to reach a milestone, such as a product launch, a key customer signing, or a revenue target, that would meaningfully strengthen its position for a full priced round. They are usually raised from existing investors who already know the company well, rather than from new outside investors.
Most bridges use a SAFE or convertible note rather than a new priced round, since pricing a small, short-term raise is often not worth the negotiation overhead. The instrument usually carries a valuation cap set below what the company expects its next priced round to be, compensating existing investors for the extra risk of bridging.
A company has three months of runway left and needs six more months to close a large enterprise customer that would justify a strong Series A. Existing seed investors put in $500,000 on a bridge SAFE with a cap below the expected Series A price. That capital extends runway to nine months, giving the company enough time to close the customer and then raise the priced round from a position of real strength instead of running out of cash mid-negotiation.
Raising a bridge without a clear, specific milestone attached to it, which turns the bridge into a treadmill of repeated small raises instead of a genuine step toward a stronger next round.
Treating a bridge as a routine event rather than acknowledging the signal risk: if outside investors passed on leading a full round and existing investors are bridging you instead, be ready to explain that context honestly rather than hoping nobody asks.
Be transparent about a bridge if you have raised one. Frame it around the specific milestones it enabled and the concrete path it created to the next round, rather than glossing over it, since investors will find it in the cap table regardless.
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