Venture Capital

Venture Capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing that firms or funds provide to small, early-stage, emerging firms deemed to have high growth potential or demonstrated high growth (in terms of the number of employees, annual revenue, or both). The venture capitalists' role in these early-stage companies is to contribute to the firms' capital needs, provide them with access to coaching, networking, and industry expertise, and help them manage the risks associated with the early stages of company development.

A venture capital investment is a form of financing where a group of investors, composed of high-net-worth individuals, firms, and funds, invest capital in startups and small businesses that are believed to have long-term growth potential, also known as "up-and-coming."

VC is a subset of PE investments. All VC is PE, but not all PE is VC.

Venture capital is a form of financing that helps startup businesses get off the ground by providing money invested in exchange for equity in the company. The investor usually becomes a part-owner of the company and receives benefits such as future dividends and control of the board of directors.

Some activities of venture capital firms (such as rendering investment advice) are considered advising (and brokering) and are therefore subject to registration as broker-dealers.