<aside> 💡 Nobody can perfectly predict when their early-stage startup will hit an inflection point, but it is important to think about how time of year can impact how hard or easy it is to get a deal done. While deals get done all year, consider your market timing against your runway and make sure there is a 3-6 month buffer, just in case.
This calendar is to help you Nail Your Fundraise Story.
</aside>
Calendar Key
**🟢 (**💎) = Peak time to fundraise
🟢 = Generally a good time to fundraise
🟡 = Still good, but key holiday in that month can hinder availability
🔴 = Deals still get done, but are hardest given travel, school and holidays
| Month | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| January | **🟡 / 🟢 (**💎) | While there is a clean slate for the year and a hunger to make an investment, there can be a psychological hesitation to make the first investment of the year. |
| February | 🟢 | All good. Good luck! |
| March | **🟢 (**💎) | Historical peak investment month. Good luck! |
| April | 🟢 | All good. Good luck! |
| May | 🟢 | All good. Good luck! |
| June | **🟢 (**💎) | Historical peak investment month. Good luck! |
| July | 🟡 | This is peak summer-time and a popular traveling month, especially those with kids |
| August | 🟡 / 🔴 | August is peak summer-time with many East Coast investors in the Hamptons or Cape, and West Coast Investors are prepping for back to school |
| September | **🟡 / 🟢 (**💎) | Kids are back in school, but many VC firms are doing their GP meetings in early September. Later in the month investments start picking up. |
| October | **🟢 (**💎) | Historical peak investment month. Good luck! |
| November | **🟢(**💎) / 🟡 / 🔴 | As November gets closer to Thanksgiving, most investors don’t want to ruin the holidays with a potential deal. |
| December | 🔴 | This month is hard - between various holidays and New Years, getting a deal done is quite hard. |
This table above is geared towards early stage VC, based upon my 15 years of venture and founder experience combined with data from Pitchbook, Crunchbase, Axios, and EY.
💎 = Crunchbase data suggests peak investment volume in 2022 and 2023
The table above directional to help you nail your fundraise story. But note that every situation is different depending on market conditions, company stage, investor, sector, your VC network, etc.