What is Venture Capital?
Venture Capital (VC) is institutional investment in high-growth startups. VCs raise funds from limited partners and invest in portfolios of companies.
How VC Works
- VCs raise funds from LPs (pension funds, endowments)
- They invest in ~20-30 companies per fund
- Most companies fail, but winners return the fund
- Typical fund lifecycle: 10 years
Funding Stages
- Pre-Seed: $100K - $500K
- Seed: $500K - $2M
- Series A: $2M - $15M
- Series B: $15M - $50M
- Series C+: $50M+
What VCs Look For
- Huge market opportunity (TAM > $1B)
- Exceptional founding team
- Strong product-market fit
- Scalable business model
- Path to 10x+ returns