Founders Can Raise VC Rounds in the Summer

Founders - despite what you may have heard, you 𝗰𝗮𝗻 raise VC rounds in the summer.

I know the prevailing wisdom is VCs shut up shop during June / July / August and all decamp to their villas on Lake Como.

But that's just not true. Most VCs (in particular your favorite emerging managers) are full go during the summer.

A couple notes on the data:

• Date is reflective of when the deal is 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱. Which means most of the deals in June, for instance, did not begin life in June. Do your prep work early!

• Put another way, I'm not sure I would kick off a new fundraise in the second week of August. But if you're already raising, don't just turn it off for the summer if you have momentum.

• Statistically speaking, the worst month for signed deals in almost always January. Getting all those signatures completed before December 31 is exhausting and most investors take a breather in the first few weeks of the year.

• I'm not sure if anyone has good data on how long an active fundraising process takes these days. I used to hear 2-3 months, now I'm hearing longer for many and much shorter for a special few.

• BTW - run an actual fundraising process. Don't just take scattershot meetings. Your calendar during the raise should be jammed with specific, well-organized meetings in a particular order. Poor planning kills many a fundraise.

• You can kinda ignore the 2022 values in the chart below, that was the year interest rates changed in mid-March and killed everybody's vibe for the remaining 9 months.

Fundraise into momentum, pure and simple. If you have momentum in July, jump on it.

Good luck!

#startups #founders #fundraising #VC