{"id":5549,"date":"2016-04-04T10:48:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/smallbusiness\/starting-a-business\/venture-capital-overview.html"},"modified":"2026-06-17T01:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T06:52:00","slug":"venture-capital-overview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/smallbusiness\/starting-a-business\/venture-capital-overview.html","title":{"rendered":"Venture Capital Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Venture Capital Overview<\/h1>\n\n
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\n By FindLaw Staff<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Catherine Hodder, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
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Venture capital is a form of private equity financing provided by investors to start-up companies and small businesses with long-term growth potential. This capital funding is essential for entrepreneurs navigating the startup, development, maturity, and growth phases of a new enterprise. Specialized investors, such as angel investors or venture capitalist firms, provide necessary seed money and business expertise in exchange for an equity stake.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1990s, the Internet provided a new frontier in which entrepreneurs<\/span> could try their hand at plying a trade or developing a new enterprise.\u00a0While “start-up<\/span>” madness may have subsided when the dot-com bubble burst in the first few years of the new millennium, it hasn’t gone away. Whether on the Web or in traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, entrepreneurship<\/span> is alive and well, and the problem of obtaining start-up<\/span> capital<\/a> for new business<\/span> ventures is usually topic number one when the idea for a new business<\/span> is born.<\/p>\n

The following is an overview of the venture capital<\/span> process<\/a> and what you can expect if you are thinking about starting a new business<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Sources of Venture Capital<\/span><\/h2>\n

So, you think you’ve got a great new idea?\u00a0 You believe that everyone would want your product, if only you could produce it.\u00a0 Where do you begin?\u00a0 Unlike in the past, obtaining funding<\/a> today is more complex. A venture-capital<\/span> funded entity, generally, will go through four stages of development.\u00a0 Sources for funding will vary depending on where the company is on this timeline.<\/p>\n