What is Venture Capital and How does it Work?

A venture capital fund is what many people think of when they are looking for outside capital to grow their business. A typical VC fund will be a professionally managed fund, that has a small number of partners and junior level individuals (often less than ten in total) who manages a pool of money raised from individual investors and institutional money (pension funds and endowments). The total fund size will range from as little as $10 million to in excess of $500 million, and each VC group may have multiple funds under management. VC funds will often invest between $250,000 and $5 million in a company (in multiple tranches), taking a senior equity position (often preferred shares) and will require a board seat. An entrepreneur can submit their business for investment consideration via the internet, but a higher level of success is often experienced through either contacting VCs the entrepreneur has a relationship with (often from a prior successful venture) or using third party advisors who have relationships with a large number of funds.

Venture capital is the name given the start up money used, generally, to start a new business enterprise. If you were to open a book store, for instance, you would need to find a business space zoned for... keep reading →