The benchmark grid · 12 industries × 5 stages × 3 ACV bands = 180 cells
Every published benchmark on this site carries a primary source. When no primary source exists for a specific cut, the page exists at the canonical URL but renders as an honest stub that points at adjacent cells and live public-company data - not a fabricated number.
Coverage today
150 of 180 cells currently carry a primary source citation. The remaining 30render as honest stubs that link to adjacent cells and to live public-company CAC numbers from companies in that industry. Sourced cells draw on First Page Sage's 28-industry CAC payback table and Optifai's n=939 B2B SaaS survey; we add others (SaaS Capital, ChartMogul, Bessemer State of the Cloud, KeyBanc) as we work through their paywalled or PDF-only data.
Each industry page surfaces all 15 (5 stages × 3 ACV bands) cells for that industry, plus the live public-company CAC anchors from companies in our cohort.
SaaS B2B
Horizontal business-to-business SaaS: collaboration, productivity, CRM, marketing, ops.
SaaS B2C
Consumer SaaS subscriptions: streaming, fitness, creator tools, productivity.
Fintech
Payments, lending, neobanks, embedded finance, treasury, wealth management.
Healthtech
Clinical software, telehealth, EHR, payer-provider workflow, digital therapeutics.
Edtech
K-12, higher-ed, workforce learning, tutoring, learning management.
Ecommerce
DTC brands, marketplaces commerce, store platforms, post-purchase software.
Marketplaces
Two-sided marketplaces: services, gig, B2B procurement, freight, talent.
Devtools
Developer infrastructure: observability, CI/CD, databases, security, APIs.
Vertical SaaS
Industry-specific SaaS: construction, restaurants, life sciences, real estate, legal.
Security
Cybersecurity: endpoint, network, cloud, identity, GRC, threat intel.
AI-Native
Foundation-model wrappers, agentic products, vertical AI applications.
Services
Productised professional services with software leverage.
Every cell links to its dedicated page. Sourced cells show their median CAC inline; stub cells link to the closest published cuts. This is the entire 180-page surface.
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 12m payback | 18m payback | 24m payback |
| Series A | 12m payback | 18m payback | 24m payback |
| Series B | 12m payback | 18m payback | 24m payback |
| Growth | 12m payback | 18m payback | 24m payback |
| Late Stage | 12m payback | 18m payback | 24m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 13m payback | 19m payback | 27m payback |
| Series A | 13m payback | 19m payback | 27m payback |
| Series B | 13m payback | 19m payback | 27m payback |
| Growth | 13m payback | 19m payback | 27m payback |
| Late Stage | 13m payback | 19m payback | 27m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 12m payback | 18m payback | 23m payback |
| Series A | 12m payback | 18m payback | 23m payback |
| Series B | 12m payback | 18m payback | 23m payback |
| Growth | 12m payback | 18m payback | 23m payback |
| Late Stage | 12m payback | 18m payback | 23m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 9m payback | 11m payback | 14m payback |
| Series A | 9m payback | 11m payback | 14m payback |
| Series B | 9m payback | 11m payback | 14m payback |
| Growth | 9m payback | 11m payback | 14m payback |
| Late Stage | 9m payback | 11m payback | 14m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 11m payback | 16m payback | 21m payback |
| Series A | 11m payback | 16m payback | 21m payback |
| Series B | 11m payback | 16m payback | 21m payback |
| Growth | 11m payback | 16m payback | 21m payback |
| Late Stage | 11m payback | 16m payback | 21m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 9m payback | 14m payback | 18m payback |
| Series A | 9m payback | 14m payback | 18m payback |
| Series B | 9m payback | 14m payback | 18m payback |
| Growth | 9m payback | 14m payback | 18m payback |
| Late Stage | 9m payback | 14m payback | 18m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 10m payback | 15m payback | 22m payback |
| Series A | 10m payback | 15m payback | 22m payback |
| Series B | 10m payback | 15m payback | 22m payback |
| Growth | 10m payback | 15m payback | 22m payback |
| Late Stage | 10m payback | 15m payback | 22m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 11m payback | 16m payback | 20m payback |
| Series A | 11m payback | 16m payback | 20m payback |
| Series B | 11m payback | 16m payback | 20m payback |
| Growth | 11m payback | 16m payback | 20m payback |
| Late Stage | 11m payback | 16m payback | 20m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 13m payback | 19m payback | 25m payback |
| Series A | 13m payback | 19m payback | 25m payback |
| Series B | 13m payback | 19m payback | 25m payback |
| Growth | 13m payback | 19m payback | 25m payback |
| Late Stage | 13m payback | 19m payback | 25m payback |
| Stage | SMB | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 14m payback | 20m payback | 30m payback |
| Series A | 14m payback | 20m payback | 30m payback |
| Series B | 14m payback | 20m payback | 30m payback |
| Growth | 14m payback | 20m payback | 30m payback |
| Late Stage | 14m payback | 20m payback | 30m payback |