Fundraising
Growth Capital
Funding for companies that have proven their model and need capital to accelerate expansion rather than discover product-market fit.
Growth capital is equity investment in relatively mature companies that need capital to fund expansion, enter new markets, make acquisitions, or scale operations. Unlike early-stage VC where the primary risk is product-market fit, growth capital investments target companies with proven business models, meaningful revenue ($10M+), and clear paths to scaling. Growth rounds are typically Series C+ and range from $50M to $500M+.
In Practice
A SaaS company with $50M ARR, 130% NRR, and 70% gross margins raises $150M in growth capital to build an enterprise sales team, expand to Europe, and develop a platform strategy.
Why It Matters
Growth capital fills the gap between venture capital and public markets, providing companies with expansion funding without the pressures of going public. It's the fastest-growing segment of private markets.
Related Concepts
Further Reading
Understanding Liquidation Preferences: What Employees Need to Know
Liquidation preferences determine who gets paid first when a startup exits. In some scenarios, investors take everything and employees get nothing — even in a 'successful' acquisition. Here's how it works.
Follow-On Strategy for Angel Investors: When to Double Down
How to think about follow-on investments in your angel portfolio — pro-rata rights, signaling risks, reserve allocation, metrics to evaluate, and when it's smarter to walk away.
What Happens to Your Stock Options If Your Startup Gets Acquired
Acquisitions are where startup equity either pays off or evaporates. Here's how acceleration clauses, liquidation preferences, and deal structure determine whether employees see real money.
How to Evaluate a Startup as an Angel Investor
A practical framework for assessing pre-seed and seed startups — covering team, market, traction, business model, and terms. Plus the red flags that experienced angels never ignore.
When Should a Startup Raise Venture Capital?
Not every startup should raise VC. The timing, market signals, and traction benchmarks that indicate you're ready — plus the honest case for when bootstrapping is the smarter path.
The Founder's Guide to Dilution: How Much You'll Actually Own
Walk through a realistic Seed to Series B scenario with real numbers. See exactly how option pools, round sizes, and preferences affect what founders actually take home at exit.
Related Guides
The Quarterly Report Template: What LPs Actually Want to See
A practical template for venture fund quarterly reports — with the exact sections, metrics, and format that institutional LPs expect.
Understanding Startup Equity and Dilution: A Complete Guide
How equity actually works, what dilution really means, and what founders take home in different exit scenarios. Real math, worked examples, no hand-waving.
The Complete Guide to Startup Fundraising
A step-by-step guide to raising capital for your startup — from deciding when to raise, to closing your round and everything between. Written for founders, by people who've seen both sides.
How Venture Capital Works: The Complete Guide
Everything you need to understand about venture capital — how funds raise money, how deals get done, and how returns flow back to investors. The definitive primer.
VentureKit
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