I worked at a place once where the CEO basically said that it's a lot easier to raise money when you don't need it than to raise it when you do. The US economy is looking pretty weird with a bunch of conflicting predictors. Maybe they're buffering for a recession.

Its always true. Whether you are a start up or an individual. People throw money at you when you least need it. But when you do need it, they give all types of hassle

depends on who is making a decision and how exactly is the funding round structured - for some investors, diluting other shareholders is actually a good thing. For existing employees, if they get an option to partially cash out now is probably better than waiting indefinitely for an IPO etc