A startup or start-up is started by individual founders or entrepreneurs to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. More specifically, a startup is a newly emerged business venture that aims to develop a viable business model to meet a marketplace need or problem. Founders design startups to effectively develop and validate a scalable business model. Hence, the concepts of startups and entrepreneurship are similar. However, entrepreneurship refers all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to grow big or become registered, while startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow beyond the solo founder, have employees, and intend to grow large. Start-ups face high uncertainty and do have high rates of failure, but the minority that go on to be successful companies have the potential to become large and influential. Some startups become unicorns, i.e. privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion.
Venture capital (VC) is a type of private equity, a form of financing that is provided by firms or funds to small, early-stage, emerging firms that are deemed to have high growth potential, or which have demonstrated high growth. Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake, in the companies they invest in. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing risky start-ups in the hopes that some of the firms they support will become successful. Because startups face high uncertainty, VC investments do have high rates of failure. The start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and they are usually from the high technology industries, such as information technology (IT), clean technology or biotechnology.
An investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return. Types of investments include: equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, token, derivatives such as put and call options, futures, forwards, etc. This definition makes no distinction between those in the primary and secondary markets. That is, someone who provides a business with capital and someone who buys a stock are both investors. An investor who owns a stock is a shareholder.
Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, consumer-finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds, individual managers and some government-sponsored enterprises. Financial services companies are present in all economically developed geographic locations and tend to cluster in local, national, regional and international financial centers such as London, New York City, and Tokyo.
Deal flow is a term used by finance professionals such as venture capitalists, angel investors, private equity investors and investment bankers to refer to the rate at which they receive business proposals/investment offers. The term is also used not as a measure of rate, but simply to refer to the stream of offers or opportunities as a collective whole. An organization's deal flow is considered "good" if it results in enough revenue- or equity-generating opportunities to keep the organization functioning at peak capacity.
Social venture capital is a form of investment funding that is usually funded by a group of social venture capitalists or an impact investor to provide seed-funding investment, usually in a for-profit social enterprise, in return to achieve a reasonable gain in financial return while delivering social impact to the world. It deviates from the traditional venture capital model, which focuses on simple risk and reward. However, there are various organizations, such as venture philanthropy companies and nonprofit organizations, that deploy a simple venture capital strategy model to fund nonprofit events, social enterprises, or activities that deliver a high social impact or a strong social causes for their existence. There are also regionally focused organizations that target a specific region of the world, to help build and support the local community in a social cause.
Angel Capital Association (ACA) is the official industry alliance of over 100 of the largest angel investor groups in the United States. Since its founding in 2004, it has played a significant role in bringing together the previously separate angel and venture capital industries, in order to make networking, practices, and innovation in the field of investment easier.
EBAN is an international, not-for-profit organisation whose function is to represent the pan-European early stage investor community, gathering member organisations and individuals from Europe and beyond. Originally targeted only to business angels, today EBAN is a cross sector representative of equity early stage investors.
An angel investor is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors invest online through equity crowdfunding or organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share investment capital, as well as to provide advice to their portfolio companies.
Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) is a US-based private equity investment firm focusing on later-stage venture capital and growth equity investments. IVP is one of the oldest venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road founded in 1980.
Oxford University Innovation, previously known as Isis Innovation (1988-2016) and Oxford University Research and Development Ltd (1987-1988) is a British technology transfer company, wholly owned by the University of Oxford, located on Botley Road, Oxford, England.
The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) is the largest entrepreneur assistance organization in the state of Oregon. As such, this not-for-profit organization provides resources and support for emerging, growth-oriented companies in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
The World Business Angels Association (WBAA) is an international, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to stimulate the exchange of knowledge and best practices in the field of global angel capital financing for high growth and innovative startups.
Ryerson University Entrepreneurship Program is the largest undergraduate entrepreneurship program in Canada with both major and minor degree programs available. It is a division within the Ted Rogers School of Management. The school is located in the heart of the nation's business district.
Guillermo Adrian Miguel Söhnlein is an American social entrepreneur with special interests in the commercialization of outer space, the exploration of the world's oceans, and the global connections between space and ocean industries.
Space Angels is a privately held financial services company with a group of angel investors who are focused exclusively on the aerospace industry. It is based in New York with virtual offices in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Seattle, San Francisco, Stockholm, and Zurich. The typical investment is between $500,000 to $1,000,000 USD of equity. Space Angels operates as a financial services company in that it offers deal discovery, manages the deal flow pipeline, conducts due diligence, facilitates equity investment, and manages portfolio investments. More recently, it has developed an online platform with virtual deal rooms, where investors can see deal information and execute on investments.
According to the Angel Capital Association, an angel group or angel network is individual angel investors joining together with other angel investors to evaluate and invest in entrepreneurial companies. These angels typically pool their capital to make larger investments. Some characteristics of angel networks are: meeting regularly to review business proposals, deciding collectively whether to invest or not, and working together to conduct due diligence to validate the plans, statements and history of the companies founding team, Between 10,000 and 15,000 angels are believed to belong to angel groups in the U.S. Angel groups also sometimes co-invest with other angel groups, individual angels and very early-stage venture capitalists to make larger, aggregate investments.
Billiken Angels Network (BAN) is an organization of angel investors based in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides equity capital for growing companies, from seed stage to later stages of growth, in any industry, including high technology, medical and biotechnology, IT, apps, and consumer products. BAN invests between $50,000 and $500,000 in its initial investments, and can invest more in follow-on rounds. BAN primarily invests in firms that are based within a 100-mile radius of St. Louis. The only exceptions made are for firms whose owners have a current or prior student, faculty or staff relationship to Saint Louis University.
Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA) is an angel investment network based in Singapore that provides information to potential investors about newly established businesses. The stated goal of BANSEA is to create business opportunities for angel investors, and aid in the development of profitable business networks.
