Antler, the active early-stage VC firm in Europe, asked the founders of its European portfolio companies to share their holiday plans and experiences fundraising over the festive period.

Whilst many founders (38%) are planning to take a week off during the holidays, a third (32%) expect to take only two days or less to ensure they can finalise funding rounds or continue growing their companies. One in ten are planning to take no time off at all and work through the festive season.

Being the founder of a tech startup is widely recognised as one of the most time-intensive and stressful jobs out there, but so many founders will continue working over the holidays because there are many examples of funding rounds that were closed in this period.

Founders have shared experiences where they signed Term Sheets on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, making the most of VCs looking to allocate capital before year end.

Alan Poensgen, Partner at Antler, comments: “Being a founder is hard work, and everyone needs to take a break during the festive season to decompress and re-connect with their loved ones. However, whilst many VCs will also be taking a break, deals are still being made. Our founders show that Term Sheets will be signed as late as Christmas Eve. So whilst it doesn’t suit everyone, some will be securing multi-million Christmas presents this year.”

Dean Hastie, Co-Founder of German fintech, Tapline: “December 2022: After weeks of intense negotiations and legal wrangling with multiple stakeholders, we closed and signed a €30 million debt facility literally on Christmas Eve (14:19PM CET to be exact). An unforgettable – and stressful – period.”

Nish Agrawal, Co-Founder of German AI food waste startup, SkoneLabs: “We are experiencing that VCs and Angels are trying to rush everything before Christmas Eve. The Due Dilligence is much faster, calls are scheduled back to back.”

Cristiano Coretti, Co-Founder of Norwegian proptech startup, Laiout: “Our first fundraise was closed in the week before Christmas and signed after NYE so it's our "lucky charm" period.”

Mads Emil Dalsgaard, Co-Founder of Danish climate tech startup, Klimate: “We actually closed our very first funding round over the Christmas holidays. I was sitting in a kids room at my mother-in-law's house in Estonia. Would NOT recommend.”

Max Teichert, Co-Founder of British gaming startup, Track Titan: “First signature for one of our rounds on 23 Dec, last on the 30th so full closing over this period in 2022.”

Jeroen van Velzen, Dutch serial entrepreneur building in stealth: “Signed a term sheet on Christmas eve. If you raise it's actually the perfect time. People are much more in closing mode at the end of the year.”

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