10th anniversary of this program! 2016-2026 🎉
January 20th – February 17th | Live Online
Fundraising Winter Camp 2026
Let’s Get You Fundraise-Ready — Whether You’re Starting, Stuck, or Still Deciding.
Update 16 Jan’26: Fundraising Winter Camp 2026 FULLY BOOKED. No more spots available. Join the Newsletter to be the first to know when Fundraising Summer Camp opens for registration.
Learn and implement my proven 6-Step Fundraising System I used to raise multiple rounds for two of my own startups — and have taught to thousands of founders over the past 10+ years. Consider joining the Camp if…
- you feel stuck in fundraising and not getting enough traction
- you’re starting soon and want to do it right from day one.
- or you’re unsure about investors and need clarity on your best next steps.
This is an online live program with me and a small group of motivated entrepreneurs like yourself.
To be able to join the Camp, sign up here and get access to one of the Briefing Calls, where I’ll share details and answer questions, so you can decide if you want to particpate.
My fundraising teaching is trusted by:
Alumni Of The Program
Hear from previous participants
Founder, Denmark
Sara Green Brodersen
Founder, South Africa
Johnny Prince
Founder, Netherlands
Jurgen Appelo
Fundraising Winter Camp 2026
What You'll Learn
You’ll learn and the end-to-end framework for successful fundraising. Each of the 6 elements will give you clarity and ways to optimize and improve your fundraising strategy.
- For existing fundraising: Quickly optimize your process
- For preparing fundraising: Do everything right from day 1
- For deciding if you want investors: Understand the process and likelihood
I’ll guide you step-by-step and share with you all the necessary knowledge for your individual fundraising campaign:
Step 1 >
Investor Selection & Research
I’ll show you the full range of possible types of investors, explain what each of them can offer you and expects from you, and disclose where you can find enough suitable investors.
- Result
You’ll have a clear focus on the most suitable types of investors, and an Investor Long List of 100+ names.
Step 2 >
Positioning & Investor Story
I’ll relveal how you can translate your startup vision & progress into an investor-ready narrative that gets your type of investor interested.
- Result
You can develop a complete communications set (pitch deck, outreach hooks, conversation starter scripts, story arch) that clearly answers “why this”, “why you”, and “why now”.
Step 3 >
Outreach & Generating Inbound Interest
I’ll disclose how you approach investors professionally on eye-level, how you can create relevance and interest. And I’ll show you how you create deal visibilty that generates inbound interest from investors.
- Result
You’ll get into coversations and meetings with more and better investors faster.
Step 4 >
Meetings & First Conversations
I’ll share a strategic game plan for your investor meetings (opener, hooks, golden questions, timing, control), which turns first meetings into follow-up conversations about an actual deal.
- Result
You’ll be able to talk to investors on eye-level, in a way that increases reciprocal interest, trust and credibility, and feels natural — not transactional or artificial.
Step 5 >
Process & Building Momentum
I’ll share how you can turn meetings into momentum and FOMO, how you stay in control of the timeline and move investors towards a decision.
- Result
You’l be able to run fundraising like a pro: with a pipeline, structured meetings, handling objections, and building momentum in your fundraising funnel.
Step 6 >
Decision-Making & Closing
I’ll explain how to navigate term sheets, signals, and negotiations — and how you read those signals to know how to move a round forward.
- Result
You’ll be able to negotaite a fair deal with the best possible investors who bring money and competence to your company, and who support you on your onward journey towards realizing your vision.
Exeprience The Transition
See Tangible Improvements Right Away
BEFORE the Camp
You might know some of these feelings:
- Unsure whether you’re “ready” or attractive enough for investors
- Unclear about which investors are the right fit and can truly add value for you
- Unsure what investors are looking for and what they expect from you
- Not sure how much your startup is worth
- Insecure about the right timing to approach investors
- Unclear on how to craft your materials in a way that resonates with investors
- The fear of being at the mercy of investors’ knowledge advantage
Unsure how to best reach out to and approach investors - Worried about embarrassing yourself with a weak pitch
- You have too few investor contacts to easily land meetings
It takes a long time and feels exhausting to get in front of investors - The time spent on fundraising holds you back from growing your business
- The feeling of being treated unfairly by investors
- The fear of being at a disadvantage during negotiations
- You lack the experience to negotiate in a way that gets you a fair deal
AFTER the Camp
You’ll have confidence and clarity:
- You approach investors confidently and professionally and negotiate on equal footing
- Investors can’t talk you into a bad deal anymore
- You have a master plan that helps you fundraise efficiently and successfully—at the right time
- You’ve built a robust contact list with plenty of well-matched investors for your outreach
- You have emails and scripts that let you reach out to investors professionally and persuasively
- You have a meeting strategy for those all-important first conversations with investors
- You’ve optimized and professionalized your pitch materials
- You have insider knowledge of how investors think—and how to deal with them effectively
- You know how to build valuable, trust-based relationships in every investor conversation—connections that will support you in this and all future startups
- You negotiate a deal that truly works for you—and you don’t settle for unfair terms
Let’s Set Up Your Fundraising System Together
Fundraising shouldn’t feel like chaos, guesswork, or “spray-and-pray” pitching.
- Your fundraising should run like a professional growth engine — clear inputs, repeatable steps, and predictable outcomes.
- Together we can set up your end-to-end fundraising system — from the right investor list and a story that lands, to outreach that gets replies, meetings that build conviction, and a process that creates momentum all the way to a clean close.
- You’ll have the assets, structure, and confidence to run your round on your terms — so you attract better investors faster, and negotiate from strength.
Let’s set up your fundraising system — together!
Years Of Fundraising Camps
Countries Of Past Participants
Industries Or Participating Startups
As seen on:
Schedule / Timing
Don’t miss the deadline to sign up to get access to the Briefing Call and the Fundraising Camp
- [Now until Jan. 19th, 2026] — Secure your invitation: Reserve your spot by signing up for one of the two upcoming briefing calls right here on this page.
- [January 8th - 15th, 2026] — Briefing Calls: Join one of these free information webinars (by clicking “Secure your invitation”). That’s where we’ll get to know each other, and I’ll walk you through exactly what to expect in the Fundraising Camp, how previous Camps went, and answer any questions you and the other participants may have. You can then decide whether you'd like to join the Camp.
- [until Jan. 18th, 2026 // while spots last] — Participant Selection: Founders who participated in a Briefing Call can now register for the Fundraising Winter Camp 2026.
- [Jan. 20th - Feb. 17th, 2026] — Fundraising Winter Camp: Each week, we’ll work on and refine another key building block of your professional investor outreach. For program details, see below.
- [until December 2026] — Ongoing Support: You’ll continue to have access to the community and to me for support and feedback as you put your fundraising plans into action. I want to empower you to succeed!
Agenda & Weekly Plan
Detailed Plan Of The 4-Week Fundraising Camp
NOTE: You’ll get access to the recordings of all live sessions — so you still get the full value if you can’t attend every call, and you can rewatch key parts anytime!
Overview
Structure of the Camp
After a kick-off, the Camp is structured into 4 weeks. Each week consists of two sessions of ~3 hours each:
- 4x Thursdays: Interactive live sessions with input from me, peer exchange & Q&A
- 4x Tuesdays: Personalized feedback on your implementation, hands-on input, Q&A, and founder exchange
Kickoff (Jan. 20th)
Meet the other participants, connect, exchange ideas, and take care of logistics.
- Participant introductions
- Getting to know the startups and their fundraising goals for the Camp
- Peer networking and exchange
- Organizational briefing
Week #1 (Jan. 22 + 27)
Defining & fine-tuning your fundraising goals and plans
- Validate how much funding your business truly needs from investors
- How to plan ahead for equity, valuation, and investment amounts across your first three funding rounds
- How many shares investors typically want—and how many you should actually give
- How to determine the right valuation for your company
- How to align your funding needs with your business roadmap
- How investors perceive and assess you
- Which types of investors are the best fit for your specific funding deal
- When is the best (and worst) time for your startup to approach investors
- Your roadmap for future fundraising rounds
- Reflecting on your goals, expectations, and (potential) misconceptions
- The strategic choice of the right investors
- Clarity on your expectations and requirements for investors
- Understanding the differences between various types of investors
- Insight into the two major „clusters“ of business angels—and which one fits you and your business better
- The 2 phases of fundraising
- Clarity on when to transition from
- Phase 1 to Phase 2—and what to keep in mind before and after that shift
Week #2 (Jan. 29 + Feb. 3)
Building and expanding your investor list, funnel management, and finding the right investors
- Where to find the right investors for your startup
- How to manage them in an “investor list” (aka target list)
- My personal target list template—the one I used myself
- Best practices for working with a target list document
- How many investors your list should include
- The key information you must gather for each investor in your list to reach out effectively
- What really matters in your investor list: practical tips for data enrichment, prioritization, organization, and tracking
- Data sources, lists, and databases for investor research (VCs and business angels)
- Additional methods for finding enough well-matched investors
- Funnel management
- How to spot and avoid risky or problematic investors early on
Week #3 (Feb. 5 + 10)
Professional investor outreach & optimizing your fundraising materials
- The #1 tactic to land the most—and best—meetings with investors
- Classic mistakes when making first contact with investors—and how to do it better
- The crucial (!) difference in investor outreach between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of your fundraising process
- How to get more investor meetings through „intros“ (warm introductions)—and why it’s by far the best approach
- Cold outreach strategies
- Practical templates for: cold outreach emails, intro requests, and warm emails
- The “unspoken rules” of investor psychology—and how to use them to your advantage
- Pros and cons of in-person vs. virtual first meetings
- What different types of investors expect from you—and what they want to hear in a pitch or conversation
- How to turn your investor target list into actual meetings
- How many investors you should reach out to in order to maximize your chances (including benchmarks)
- The “complete set” of materials you’ll need for your fundraising
- The key tactical principles for creating strong pitch documents—plus dos and don’ts
- The “PBN Strategy” (a Florian Kandler trademark)
- The 3 core marketing principles to support your fundraising process
- How to leverage your existing network to get in front of the right investors
- One dangerous communication mistake to avoid when doing PR/self-marketing during your fundraising
- The 3 key themes to focus on when marketing yourself and your startup to investors
- How to quickly figure out—before and during meetings—whether an investor is a good fit
- What questions you should be asking your investors
Week #4 (Feb. 12 + 17)
Investor meetings, process management, round structuring, and negotiation
- The #1 strategic goal when meeting an investor for the first time
- How to open the meeting in a convincing and engaging way
- How to manage time effectively during the meeting
- What else you need to bring beyond your pitch deck, backup slides, and Q&A responses
- How to keep the conversation on equal footing
- Tactics and psychological triggers to keep the investor’s attention and interest high
- How to wrap up a first meeting professionally
- What you absolutely must do after that first meeting
- How to manage the full process—from outreach to closing—in a way that maximizes control and success
- The 3 most important types of clauses in your term sheet and what they actually mean
- Negotiation tips—and which clauses are truly worth negotiating hard
- Real-life negotiation examples from my own startup deals with business angels and VCs
The Problem With Fundraising
Fundraising isn’t hard because your idea isn’t good – it’s hard because the process is unclear.
Most fundable founders who struggle to raise their first professional funding round make one big mistake: They do “random fundraising”.
They pitch too early or too late, they talk to the wrong investors, send decks without a clear narrative, meet investors without a clear meeting strategy, and try to solve their lack of fundraising best practices with even more hustle and work, hoping that something will stick.
Every one of these mistakes is a leak in their fundraising funnel — costing them qualified investor conversations, and lowering their chance of success.
Take a look at 10 of the most common fundraising mistakes I see founders make again and again — and spot exactly where you can make quick improvements to raise faster and with more leverage.
Top 10 Fundraising Mistakes
We Will Fix These “Levers Of Fundraising Success”
Mistake #1
Wrong Investors
Pitching people who don’t invest in your stage, geography, or category kills momentum. You waste weeks, hear “not a fit,” and start doubting a perfectly fundable business.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll pinpoint your exact investor profile and build a targeted list that actually converts.
Mistake #2
Too Small List
With only a handful of investors, you can’t create momentum or competitive tension. No urgency, no FOMO—just slow replies and “let’s reconnect in a few months.”
- Let's Fix It
We’ll expand your pipeline fast so you create momentum, urgency, and real competition.
Mistake #3
Milestone Mismatch
You raise before your story is “earned.” Missing traction, proof, or clarity forces investors to take a leap of faith—so they pass, stall, or demand painful terms.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll align your fundraising story to the milestones investors must see before saying yes.
Mistake #4
Starting Too Late
If you begin when cash is low, every call screams desperation. Investors sense your back is against the wall and wait you out — or offer terms you can’t accept.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll set a clean timeline and plan so you raise from strength, not pressure.
Mistake #5
Weak Positioning
If your narrative doesn’t hook fast, investors mentally check out. You sound like everyone else, your deck feels “fine,” and the meeting becomes polite curiosity, not conviction.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll sharpen your narrative into a crisp hook that investors remember and repeat.
Mistake #6
Bad Outreach
Relying on cold emails alone is a slow grind with low hit rates. Without warm intros and inbound signals, you fight uphill—spending effort where leverage should do the work.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll build a smarter outreach mix that unlocks warm intros and inbound signals.
Mistake #7
No Meeting Strategy
Founders who only present and answer questions lose control. Great fundraising is dialogue — building belief, trust, and urgency. Without it, investors stay cautious and noncommittal.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll turn meetings into guided conversations that build trust and move decisions forward.
Mistake #8
Weak Follow-Up
Most founders “check in” instead of progressing the decision. Without a clear next step, new proof, and a timeline, investors drift, ghost, and your pipeline quietly dies.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll give you a follow-up system that keeps momentum and prevents ghosting.
Mistake #9
No Process Control
If you don’t run a structured process, investors run you. Meetings spread out, decisions stall, and you lose momentum — because nobody feels the deal is moving toward a close.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll install a simple fundraising process so you stay in control from first call to term sheet and close.
Mistake #10
Fumbled Closing
Either you’re passive (“let me know”) or pushy (“are you in?”). Both kill trust. You need a confident, respectful way to drive decisions without sounding desperate or needy.
- Let's Fix It
We’ll script a confident close that drives decisions without sounding pushy or desperate.
Let’s Fix These 10 Mistakes Together
Every one of these mistakes is fixable — fast — when you run a proven fundraising process.
Keep in mind:
- Every one of these mistakes is a leak in your fundraising funnel — costing you qualified investor conversations, and lowering your conversion rate.
- If you don’t fix them, you’ll notice that fundraising drags on, your best-fit investors stay inactive, and you end up settling for worse terms — or no deal at all.
Let’s fix this — together. In the Fundraising Winter Camp 2026!
On stage at:
Florian Kandler
I’m Dr. Florian Kandler. I founded 3 startups and raised capital myself (Silicon Valley, London, Berlin). Today I help founders become “investor-ready” — with a structured system that turns fundraising form guesswork into a repeatable process.
- Between 2006 and 2011 I've founded 3 startups, 2 of which successfully raised €3,000,000+ in 3 funding rounds from VCs, Angels, a Family Office, and a Government Fund from the USA, Germany, and Austria
- Since 2012 I'm sharing my knowledge and success strategies with the next generation of entrepreneurs — since 2016 I do this full-time
- I teach in my online programs, in offline workshops, at accelerators and incubators, at conferences, on TV, in my books, podcasts, and in 1:1-consultations
Founder Feedback
Voices from founders I supported through the investor search, messaging, and fundraising process
5 times thank you to: THANK YOU for your absolute clarity. You manage to organize the chaos in my head. THANK YOU for your insider tips on how to add an emotional touch to a pitch. THANK YOU for always making time, no matter when or where, and making me feel like I'm never a bother with any question. THANK YOU for the amazing phrasing and brilliant wordplay - since then, I no longer fear and know how to answer critical questions professionally! THANK YOU for even providing support afterward. A pitch doctor with great foresight, understanding, and a heart of gold!
Florian's tips have been incredibly helpful and gave my investor outreach the perfect finishing touch. It's always great to get feedback from someone outside the company because the blind spots within the company can grow, making it hard to see certain things. Florian is very competent, very friendly, and super quick with feedback. I highly recommend Florian to everyone!
Accelerator Feedback
What program leaders say after booking my fundraising workshops for their cohorts
Every year, Florian conducts his 'Fundraising Secrets' workshop for our Elevate Accelerator founders. With his own fundraising experience, this workshop has a strong practical focus that helps our teams prepare professionally for their investor search. Participants are also thrilled by Florian's stories and learnings from pitching for millions to investors himself. Florian's workshop is consistently one of the highest-rated among our founders. We can only recommend his valuable expertise."
Florian Kandler's fundraising workshop is a highlight for participants in our aws First Program every year. Here are some quotes from the founders: 'Flo is super experienced and generously shares his knowledge, which is extremely helpful,' 'An excellent trainer – a great workshop with many insights and valuable learnings,' 'Very helpful, as it was presented from an expert's perspective and provided insights into investors' mindsets, which are usually hard to come by. Individual questions were also specifically addressed.' We are delighted that Florian has been a part of our program for years and can recommend him at any time.
Florian's fundraising workshop is a staple of the "Founders Lab" by the Vienna Business Agency. He excels at preparing first-time founders for pitching to investors, drawing on his experience from his own startups that successfully secured funding. His feedback is always "on point" – participants benefit not only from his responses to their individual challenges but also from gaining a new perspective that can be applied in many other areas. Florian makes the important connections between fundraising, pitching, sales, and building a startup truly tangible. In 2020, Florian's workshop was once again voted the most popular workshop in the program by the participants.
Early-stage high-tech startups receive intensive support in our Startup Camp of the SCALEup Incubation Program to turn a founding idea into a scalable business model. Especially in this phase, practical workshops like 'Fundraising Secrets' by Florian are crucial and highly valued by our founders. How does an investor think and act? How can I excite investors about my project? What do I need to consider in my cap table? With highly valuable, practical tips and tricks, Florian introduces our founders to the 'art' of fundraising, guiding them to conduct successful investor meetings that ultimately lead to investment deals. His workshop is one of the most popular among our founders, not least because of his unique and highly motivating presentation style. We are delighted to have Florian on board!
Florian's workshop "Fundraising Secrets" has been one of the highest-rated workshops in our i2c Accelerator at TU Wien since 2017. What participants particularly appreciate are the concrete tips and methods that Florian shares based on his own fundraising experience. His workshops are always very engaging and entertaining. We are thrilled to have Florian on board and can only recommend him as a fundraising expert.
My fundraising teaching is trusted by:
