Discuss: How to raise your first venture capital round?

The fundraising process is arguably one of the most time consuming and energy draining mission to go through for founders. The process typically takes about six months and many ego-bruising moments.

Some say it gets better once you have raised your first round, which many concur to be the toughest of all.

Aihui Ong, CEO and founder at Love With Food recounted, “My first round of fundraising was hard. The biggest push back was being a solo founder. But once you get over the first round, the other rounds are up to your metrics.”

Darius Cheung, founder at 99.co, mentioned how fundraising can be painful even after you’re successful.

“Investors look at companies as a line, not single dots,” he said. “We actually get a lot of rejections. It’s easier to have a conversation. But that doesn’t make raising money easier.”

Alexis Horowitz, CEO and co-founder at Luxola, agreed that raising her first round was one of the most painful experiences of her professional career.

“I’ve had a cry before outside a meeting, I was like ‘oh it was going so well, but three weeks later it fell apart and I was like sad’,” she said.

The challenge is real for many early-stage founders. If you’re either in the trenches right now and want to seek advice, or you have some tips to share, you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s discuss

• How was your experience like raising your first round of VC money?
• What are some challenges you faced?
• Any best practices you follow?

Topic experts on this discussion

Engage and discuss with investors and entrepreneurs on raising your first VC round!

Christopher Quek — Managing Partner at Tri5 Ventures. Christopher has supported 38 startups in getting S$6.7m in grants and follow-on funding, and advised 600 startups pro-bono. He was also once a founder of an ecommerce startup and understands the challenges of raising funds.

Dave Kwong — Associate at KK Fund. He is involved in a myriad of activities such as, but not limited to, deal sourcing, deal screening, deal support, settling administrative matters, supporting portfolio companies and navigating the startup scene.

Vicky Lay — Director at Artesian Venture Partners. Previously, Vicky was helping to make student life easier around the world at Zookal. Now she is focused on supporting the startup community through her roles at Artesian Venture Partners, VentureCrowd and Young Achievement Australia.