VC Deal Flow Signal Benchmarks: 269 Startups (Q2 2026)

Aggregate engineering signal data for 269 venture-backed startups tracked across 15 sectors. Commit velocity, contributor growth patterns, and signal type distribution. Updated weekly from public GitHub activity. CC BY 4.0: free to use and cite.

Quick answer: GitDealFlow tracks 269 VC-backed startups across 15 sectors by analyzing public GitHub commit activity. The top 5 sectors by tracked startups are Web3 (28), Data Infrastructure (25), EdTech (21), Enterprise SaaS (21), and Healthcare (20). The most common engineering signal is "framework migration" (42% of startups), followed by "engineering hiring burst" (19%) and "deploy frequency spike" (13%). A breakout signal, a sudden surge in commit velocity, preceded 68% of announced fundraises by 3 to 6 weeks.
269
Startups Tracked
15
Sectors
350+
GitHub Orgs Monitored
68%
Signal-to-Fundraise Rate
Download CSV (269 startups) Download JSON

Startups by Sector

SectorStartupsShareActivity
Web32810.4%
Data Infrastructure259.3%
EdTech217.8%
Enterprise SaaS217.8%
Healthcare207.4%
Social & Community197.1%
Space Tech186.7%
E-commerce Infra176.3%
Robotics176.3%
Gaming176.3%
Supply Chain145.2%
AI/ML134.8%
Cybersecurity134.8%
AgTech134.8%
Developer Tools134.8%

Signal Type Distribution

Signal TypeCountShareWhat It Means
Framework migration11442.4%Active refactoring, team is investing in tech debt or scaling architecture
Engineering hiring burst5119.0%Rapid contributor growth, likely post-raise team scaling
Deploy frequency spike3513.0%Sudden acceleration in shipping, product launch or pre-launch push
Infrastructure buildout145.2%New repos, CI/CD setup, platform foundation stage

How the Signals Work

GitDealFlow sweeps 350+ candidate startup GitHub organizations every Sunday. For each startup, it computes five metrics from public activity:

  1. Commit Velocity (14d): Total commits to the most active public repo over a rolling 14-day window.
  2. Velocity Change: Percentage change versus the prior 14-day period. This is the primary ranking signal.
  3. Contributor Count: Distinct GitHub contributors in the last 6 weeks.
  4. Contributor Growth: 6-week growth rate in unique contributors.
  5. New Repositories: Public repos created in the last 30 days.

The signal types: breakout (sudden surge, highest predictive value for fundraises), acceleration (sustained growth), steady (healthy baseline), and cooling (declining activity). The methodology is documented in full at signals.gitdealflow.com/methodology and in the SSRN preprint (DOI forthcoming).

Use Cases for This Data

Venture capital: Identify breakout engineering teams 3 to 6 weeks before announced fundraises. Filter by sector to focus on your thesis.

Journalists and analysts: Track sector-level engineering activity trends. Which sectors are accelerating? Which are cooling?

Startup founders: Benchmark your own GitHub activity against funded competitors in your sector.

Developer advocates and PMs: Find fast-growing open-source projects in your domain for partnership or integration.

Access the full dataset programmatically via the JSON API, CSV export, or OpenAPI spec. The MCP server (npx -y @gitdealflow/mcp-signal) gives AI agents direct access to the same data.

Cite This Data

GitDealFlow. (2026). VC Deal Flow Signal Benchmarks Q2 2026 [Dataset]. https://signals.gitdealflow.com/data/vc-signal-benchmarks

BibTeX: @misc{gitdealflow2026signals, title={VC Deal Flow Signal Benchmarks Q2 2026}, author={GitDealFlow}, year={2026}, url={https://signals.gitdealflow.com/data/vc-signal-benchmarks} }

SSRN preprint: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6606558

GitDealFlow Home: GitHub-signal-based deal flow intelligence for angel investors and VC scouts.

Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Updated weekly. July 2026.