A VC Glossary for Your Investor Meetings

Demand registration rights give an investor the right to force a company to register its shares with the SEC. A demand registration right gives an investor control over the timing of a registration and in effect means that the investor can force the company to go public. The protection consists of an adjustment mechanism called a Ratchet. A funding round with participation from a big number of investors, sometimes as many as 20, and without any investor having a sufficiently large stake to be truly invested in the success of the company.

Committed CapitalThe total dollar amount of capital pledged to a private equity fund. Captive fundsA venture capital firm owned by a larger financial institution, such as a bank. Capital GainsThe difference between an asset’s purchase price and selling price, when the selling price is greater. Long-term capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income.

venture capital

AgentA market intermediary that assists in the structuring of a private equity transaction. Financial models are commonly used to determine the valuation of a company or to compare it to its peers. They also function as part of a company’s strategic planning process. Click here for our explanation of what is a valuation model. The sell-side is a financial industry that’s involved in the promotion and sale of financial instruments such as bonds and stocks to the public market. New school dealmaking uses data, technology, and process to take a proactive, structured approach to finding and closing deals. Over time, it creates a virtuous cycle in which a firm is able to develop unique market expertise, build a differentiated reputation and brand, and land deals that add significant value to their network and portfolio. A metric that helps determine a fund’s performance by showing the fund’s total value as a multiple of its cost basis.

Some of the key changes MiFID brought in are in the areas of client classification, best execution, suitability, inducements and conflicts of interest. Risk that depends on factors which influence the whole market and which cannot be reduced or excluded by diversifying the portfolio. Manner in which the investment decisions are made to achieve the investment objective. The commission charged by the distribution unit to the investor upon subscription of units.

Net Book Value Of Assets

Further, investors of a high-valued company will reject moderate exists because their return will be lower due to the small stake in the company. However, they will not have an issue with moderate exits when the company has a lower valuation. Actually, startups seeking Series A stage funding should have achieved the product-market fit or have visible progress that shows they’re almost there. VCs relies on their strong network to boost the quality of their deal flow. The goal of such relationships is to capture investment opportunities by connecting VCs with promising founders. Still, the fund has to build a strong brand to help it generates a steady flow of inbound deals. VC firms are interested in companies with high growth potential and they take stakes in such businesses because of the huge returns they expect after 5-10 years.

Brokerage firms underwriting new stock issues tend to discourage flipping, and will often try to allocate shares to investors who intend to hold on to the shares for some time. However, the temptation to flip a new issue once it has risen in price sharply is too irresistible for many investors who have been allocated shares in a hot issue. Note that the test is https://www.beaxy.com/features/signals/ 25% of the interests of all the limited partners, which means 20% (+/-) in the partnership as a whole, taking into account the general partner’s interest. Demand RightsContemplate that the company must initiate and pursue the registration of a public offering including, although not necessarily limited to, the shares proffered by the requesting shareholder.

Government bonds

Rental income must seem appropriate and obtainable over the long term in order to be fully included in the calculation. Read more about how much is 1btc in usd here. The capitalised-income value is the major factor used in valuing income properties. This refers to the liabilities of the fund before liquidation taxes as a percentage of the total fund assets. Investment funds which invest in bonds and other fixed or variable interest securities. Bond funds generally have a specific reference and investment currency. Funding Growth Index – An index of growth in early-stage funding in tech startups in the ecosystem year over year. Measured on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest tier of growth observed and 1 is the lowest. Global Startup Economy – The global economic value created by tech startups. In data terms, Startup Genome measures this as the sum of tech startup valuations and exits in the world over a two-and-a-half-year time period.

• Deal flow process refers to the series of steps that an investment opportunity goes through on its way to becoming a closed deal.
• It’s the method by which an investor and/or entrepreneur intends to “exit” their investment in a company.
• The direct sale of a security to a limited number of qualified buyers, which may include accredited investors or institutional investors.
• It provides a comprehensive overview of the registrant’s business.
• If the dividend is not declared during the period stated in the corporate charter, the dividend accrues and is payable in a later period.

Dealmakers are required to know and understand a wide variety of terminologies used within finance and investing, but not all of them are intuitive. Some firms will attribute different meanings to the same words. Terms you’ve heard used in other fields or everyday language may not have the same definitions or implications as they do in business. It may use a significant amount of borrowed capital to meet the cost of acquisition.

The spread duration for fixed-rate credit bonds equals normal duration. An investment fund in the form of a joint-stock company with variable capital. An investment fund in the form of a joint-stock company with fixed capital. A method of valuation of company accounts which can determine how a company is spending its money, calculated by dividing a company’s net income by its stockholder equity. The relationship between risk and return is a key tenet of modern portfolio theory. In principle, a higher return can only be “purchased” for a higher risk. However, the relationship between risk and return may be optimised via a broad spread of investments . By doing so, a higher return can be generated with the same level of risk, and a lower return can be achieved with a lower level of risk. The market value of the securities and assets held by the fund, less its current liabilities divided by the number of total shares.

A liquidity event is one where an investor realizes its investment. A common liquidity event is the sale of a company for cash. Initial public offerings can also be liquidity events if the investor is able to sell its stock as part of the IPO. Liquidation generally means the ceasing of a company’s business activity and the winding down of operations. In venture capital financing agreements, “liquidation” also means the sale of a company. Corporate venture capital (also known as “CVC”) occurs when an operating company invests in emerging companies. CVCs take may forms – some may be formal programs that are separate entities affiliated with an operating company, while other companies are making opportunistic investments.

venture

Institutional InvestorPension funds, insurance companies, endowments, charitable foundations, mutual funds and other non-bank financial institutions that are often key suppliers to private equity funds. Organizations that professionally invest, including insurance companies, depository institutions, pension funds, investment companies, mutual funds, and endowment funds. IncubatorAn entity designed to nurture business concepts or new technologies to the point that they become attractive to venture capitalists. An incubator typically provides both physical space and some or all of the services-legal, managerial, and/or technical-needed for a business concept to be developed. Incubators often are backed by venture firms, which use them to generate early-stage investment opportunities. General Partner ContributionThe amount of capital that the fund manager contributes to its own fund in the same way that a limited partner does. This is an important way in which limited partners can ensure that their interests are aligned with those of the general partner. Department of Treasury has removed the legal requirement of the general partner to contribute at least 1 percent of fund capital. A 1 percent general partner contribution remains standard practice, particularly among venture capital funds. Fund Commitment/Investment CommitmentA Limited partner’s obligation to provide a certain amount of capital to a private equity fund for investments.

Shell CorporationA corporation with no assets and no business. Typically, shell corporations are designed for the purpose of going public and later acquiring existing businesses. Seed FinancingCapital provided to facilitate commercialization of new product concepts, often from laboratories, research centres or entrepreneurs. RiskThe chance of loss on an investment due to many factors including inflation, interest rates, default, politics, foreign exchange, call provisions, etc.

An annualized projection of revenue based on your current revenue. Typically, revenue run rate refers to what your revenue over the next 12 months would be if your revenue in each month or quarter would be the same as in the last one. In other words, they can only fully be converted into stock after this period of time. While these vesting schedules are linearly progressive, they usually contain a cliff; a period of time before which any options vest. Much like vesting in general, the cliff is there to incentivize employees to stay on longer. E.g. you have a 20% stake in a $1M company following a Seed round. In the Series A round, the company raises $2M at an $8M valuation, you choose to not participate, and the post-money value is now $10M. Drag along rights give the majority shareholder the power to compel minority shareholders to participate in an acquisition.

Banks prefer established businesses because they’re less risky compared to startups which aside from a promising idea they don’t have collateral or numbers to support their business. This gives them a position which is senior to or “ahead of” the common stock if the company is sold or liquidated but also allows them to participate in the “upside” with the common stock if things take off. So the Investor will be protected if he buys at $2.00 per share and the company subsequently issues stock at $10.00 per share at a time when the fair market value is $12.00 per share. This type of Antidilution Protection is most often used early on in a venture (e.g. until the first $1 million in equity is raised) or if there are some real questions about the current valuation.

A key person (formerly known as a “key man”) is an individual or small group of individuals who are partners or senior members of the General Partner and who deemed the most important people managing a fund. A “direct secondary” is when a stockholder of a private company sells its stock to a third party in a private transaction. Treasury StockStock issued by a company but later reacquired. It may be held in the company’s treasury indefinitely, reissued to the public, or retired.
The average funding amount in the pre-seed round sits just above $500,000 in the U.S. and typically doesn’t exceed $2 million. Cash flow is the amount of money flowing in and out of your business at a given time. Being cash flow positive means there’s more cash inflow, or money going into your company, than coming out. Conversely, a negative cash flow is when the cash outflow, the amount of money going out of your business, exceeds how much you’re making. A business plan is also used to attract investors during the early stages before your company has established a proven track record. A business model is an important asset for attracting investment, guiding business operations, and developing relationships with suppliers and customers. Round — an event whereby financing is provided to a company by one or more investors.

In practice, this will be equal to the amount of drawndown capital less amounts which have been used to pay fees, or which are awaiting investment. Event TransactionA generic term for a range of activity of interest to buyout and mezzanine funds. Enterprise ValueThe total value of a business, the price at which it may be sold. Can be thought of as earnings x PE ratio or as equity value + debt. DepreciationAn expense recorded to reduce the value of a long-term tangible asset. Since it is a non-cash expense, it increases free cash flow while decreasing the amount of a company’s reported earnings. Deal FlowThe measure of the number of potential investments that a fund reviews in any given period.

The Revenue Run Rate (also run rate — one word) is the annualized revenue of a company if you were to extrapolate the current revenue over a year. It refers to the financial performance of a company based on using current financial information as a predictor of future performance. The run rate functions as an extrapolation of current financial performance and is based on the assumption that current conditions will continue. Run rates are useful for new business or business units within a company that have only had a short period of revenue generation opportunity. This figure allows managers, venture capitalists and investors to measure the annualized revenue. An event that could result in either investors or debt holders to receive cash from the company, either through acquisition or a sale of assets resulting from bankruptcy. In either case, preference clauses determine order of payout to claimants, typically valuing debt holders and preferred shareholders over common stockholders. Venture capital is a form of private equity and a type of financing that investors provide to startup companies and small businesses that are believed to have long-term growth potential. Venture capital generally comes from well-off investors, investment banks, and any other financial institutions.

Securities which evidence an equity interest in a company. As a joint owner, the shareholder has rights of participation and rights to assets . An investment fund which distributes the income generated to its unit holders. Financial instruments, such as options or futures, which are derived from underlying instruments, frequently equities or foreign exchange. In portfolio management, derivatives can be used to reduce the risk of capital losses.