VC Temperature Check Webinar: Insights on the Evolving Fundraising Landscape

Key themes and takeaways from our expert panel

Rob Moffat, Partner at Balderton Capital, Susan Lin, Partner at Felix Capital and Suzanne Ashman, General Partner at Local Globe, joined Juliet to discuss the investor landscape. Watch the replay or read a few of the highlights below.

Fundraising landscape shifts & regional trends – (4m33s)

The first core topic the panellists covered was the state of the fundraising landscape. Despite headwinds and geopolitical challenges, Suzanne Ashman, thought fundraising in general had been consistent this year.

“What’s going on with the fundraising landscape? Honestly, not that much has changed. This year, European startups raised about 10 to 15 billion a quarter. That's pretty much the same as last year.”

Ashman did note that US capital is beginning to play a key role in London-based businesses:

“We are starting to see the impact of quite a lot of US Capital in London, not just at later stages, but at seed too. US Firms either now have permanent presences in London, or have members of the team coming through on a very, very regular basis.”

The UK in general remains strong and continues to be the number one hub in Europe by venture capital raised. Our latest Dealroom report mentioned: UK startups have raised $12.4B in venture capital in the first three quarters of 2024. This compares to $6.7B for Germany and $6.5B for France in the same period. London alone has raised more than either country, with $8.7B.

From a late-stage business perspective, Rob Moffat gave his perspective:

“A lot of companies had a great series B in 2021 and then they had lots of capital, so they didn’t need to raise again for quite some time and they’re now coming to the market once again and they’ve grown three times. Now they’re ready to do a good up round at a lower multiple but a higher valuation.”

AI Investments: Challenges and Opportunities (8m39s)

Much like the internet boom of the late 90s, artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest technology trend that is being utilised by startup founders. That being said, it is still early days for the tech:

“We're approaching AI with some caution. We've seen a lot of the mega rounds that have been raised, but if the technology is more infrastructure layer or application layer, some of the AI companies can be very capital intensive.” – Susan Lin

The applications of AI did excite all panellists, particularly Lin:

“On some of the more consumer brands companies that we're seeing that they're experimenting a lot on the content and marketing side with AI, and it's been exciting to see the new generation of tools that have been iterating fast and delivering real value."

Fundraising Strategies for Founders (16m06s)

With three investors on the webinar, it was a fantastic opportunity for the attendees to hear about some strategies for fundraising straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth.

“Try to be authentic to who you are and what the company is actually. I tried to start a startup myself when I was in the US and I heard coaching that you have to fit in a specific mould, and that for me at the time was very much go-fast, type of founder mode, and wasn't quite who I who I was as a person, and I think that that really transpired in those conversations, and it made it really difficult.” – Susan Lin

“We’ve seen a founder, get through the first five or 10 minutes of the pitch, and it's actually not clear what they're building, or what the product is. And if people don't understand, they will not be excited about it. You have to make sure that you absolutely nail what you are doing in that first five minutes.” – Suzanne Ashman

“What we like to see at late stages is what you've done and why it's impressive. Spend less time on what you did before the company and spend a lot less time on the vision and market size. You've built a real business at that point. So talk about that business.” – Rob Moffat

Addressing founder wellbeing and financial stability (39m20s)

Recently, Balderton Capital published its Founder Wellbeing and Performance survey results as the topic has come sharply into focus.

“So we did big survey across every founder we could possibly reach, to get their views of their own well-being and the findings are pretty sobering. A large number of founders struggle with stress. With increasing demands of the job, financial stability, pressure, burnout, physical health. It's an incredibly demanding job, and being able to handle that as a founder is not straightforward at all.”

“We're going to keep measuring ourselves annually to demonstrate the improvements and how that has a long term impact on the companies.”

Key takeaway: build a community with VCs

As the year draws closer to conclusion, understanding what investors are thinking and seeing continues to be vital for founders. Each panellist alluded to the importance of founders understanding investor commitments, expectations and underlying funds. This is achieved though building genuine relationships with VCs with the aim of establishing a true VC-founder community.