Fixed-term, cohort-based programs that include seed investment, connections, sales, mentorship, educational components, and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day to accelerate growth.
​Example: Y Combinator

Individuals who provide capital for a business start-up.
​Example: Marc Benioff

Large companies investing in startups, sometimes via a Corporate Venture Fund (CVC).
​Example: Amazon.com

These are investment funds that manage the money of investors who seek private equity stakes in startups and small- to medium-sized enterprises with strong growth potential.
​Example: LocalGlobe

Private equity funds more closely resemble venture capital firms in that they invest directly in companies, primarily by purchasing private companies, although they sometimes seek to acquire a controlling interest in publicly traded companies through stock purchases.
​Example: KKR

They are private wealth management advisory firms that serve ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) investors.
​Example: Talis Capital

Example: European Investment Bank

It refers to investment banks and financial advisory firms that invest into startups.

It is a financial award given by governments, international institutions, universities etc. It is like a gift as the grantmaker won’t receive equity or payment back. For example, the European Innovation Council (EIC) has given grants to many startups.

For €1-4M deals, when the round happened 0-2 years after the company’s foundation

For €4-15M deals

For €15-40M deals

For €40-100M deals

For €100-250M deals

For €250M+ deals

When the round type is not mentioned and the amount is between 2 and 20 million

Rounds type not mentioned after Series A,B…or Round happening 5 years after launch date

A $100M+ investment in a fast growing company mostly a mix of primary+secondary. the investor is a private equity, growth equity, VC and/or corporate. Not every $100M+ round is GE round. It could be self-reported as Series A,B,C+ etc.

30-100% Acquisition by Private Equity firms, BUYOUT mentioned

Is a fusion of two companies into one new legal entity agreed on generally equal terms. For example, Daum Communications and Kakao Inc. merged in 2014. Once added, a merger transaction will be displayed on both companies’ profiles.

It is defined as money borrowed by one party to another, with the arrangement to be paid back at a later date, usually with interest. Startups & Scaleups choose to opt for this option as it might be cheaper than issuing stock in certain industries (real estate, manufacturing, for example).

Convertible notes, convertible loans

Working capital for platforms providing lendings and mortgages. These startups require a wide amount of working capital to lend which is often provided by banking partners (ex: LendInvest, Duologi)

When a media group provides a communication/advertising campaign in exchange for shares in the startup

Add when the private placement type is explicitly mentioned and the company is public. This round type is more common in the US. It has a specific meaning, and is never public money: a publicly listed company sells shares privately (not via stock market) to hand-picked individuals (usually family offices, individuals, institutional investors, not government).
Private placement is almost always present in the case of SPACs IPOs (Example).

More info can be found here

More info can be found here

A post IPO equity round takes place when firms invest in a company after the company has already gone public.

A post IPO debt round is a transaction when corporates loan a company money after the company has already gone public. Similar to debt, a company promises to repay the principal as well as added interest on the debt.

A post IPO convertible round takes place when a company receives a convertible round after the company has already gone public.

0-20% ownership by investing through buying shares from existing investors

This round represents the merger between the SPAC vehicle and the company going public and the company public listing. It is therefore implemented as an IPO but with “investor” the SPAC company. (Example).

Note: The ownership percentages (e.g Secondary, Buyout) are indicative.

Spinouts are startups where universities have equity and/or royalty/licensing deals. The terms Spinout and Spin-off have the same meaning. We use the term Spinout. We count a startup as Spinout if there’s a reliable source, like a university site, the company LinkedIn profile, trusted news source, etc. mentioning it’s a “spin-off” / “spinout” or mentioning that the company was created using the technology developed at a University/Research Center. Our definition of Spinout does not cover corporate spinouts (companies that have spun out of large corporates like Samsung, Toyota, etc.). Startups that do not follow this condition, should not be counted as Spinouts. For example, the source mentioning that the company was founded by the Oxford University alumni is not enough to count the startup as a Spinout. Similarly, the source mentioning that the company is a University startup or a startup incubated at the University, is not enough to count this startup as a Spinout.

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