Investor Perspectives—Venture Fundraising in 2018

• 2.28.2018

During our January QuickLaunch University webinar, we were joined by three leading venture capital investors to discuss trends and themes in VC funding and what to expect in 2018. The panel discussion included insight on industries to watch, early-stage investing and corporate VCs. Below are some key takeaways from our panelists on the fundraising atmosphere in 2018 and geographic trends.

“The early-stages are kind of choppy and complicated. The big theme is that the world is awash in capital. There’s a lot more things getting funded or that potentially could be funded, so it’s very competitive. And that means you want to actually raise more money so you stand out.” Russ Wilcox, Pillar

“My guess would be ’18 will be bigger than ’17 in terms of funds raised from a lot of the major VCs. I think you’ll see a lot of money in the market, and then a lot of later stage funds getting raised with relative ease as well.” Alex Finkelstein, Spark Capital

“I think we’ll start seeing more discipline from venture firms in making the funds last a little longer, which will, in turn, probably pace out the investments that get made every year. I would start probably seeing it slow down a bit. If you have a good business plan, a good team, and some good ideas, you shouldn’t have any trouble fundraising in the next year.” Vanessa Larco, NEA

For future insights from our Investor Perspectives series, follow WilmerHale’s Launch Blog and @WHLaunch on Twitter.