Venture Glossary

Browse 13 venture terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

13 Venture Terms

AI Startup
A startup whose main product, infrastructure, or market positioning depends heavily on artificial intelligence. The label covers everything from model labs to...
Corporate Venture Capital
Venture investing done by established corporations rather than independent VC firms, often for both financial return and strategic access. Corporate venture...
Deal Flow
The stream of potential investment or transaction opportunities coming into a fund, acquirer, or business-development team. Strong deal flow is a major source...
Down Market
Referring to a weaker market environment marked by lower valuations, reduced demand, tougher fundraising, or slower economic conditions. Startups feel down...
Flat Round
A financing round raised at roughly the same valuation as the previous round rather than at a step-up valuation. Flat rounds can preserve continuity but may...
Investment Thesis
The core reasoning behind why an investment should generate returns, including beliefs about market trends, team fit, defensibility, and timing. Strong...
LP
Short for limited partner, meaning an investor who supplies capital to a fund without managing its day-to-day investments. LPs are the ultimate backers behind...
Seed
A very early financing stage used to support initial product building, customer validation, and team formation. Seed capital is meant to help a startup prove...
Series B
A financing round that typically follows Series A and is often used to scale go-to-market, product breadth, and organizational capacity once some repeatability...
Series C
A later-stage financing round usually associated with a company that has substantial traction and is funding further scale, market expansion, or acquisitions....
Series D
A relatively late private financing round raised by companies continuing to scale, preparing for liquidity, or extending runway under complex conditions. Not...
T2D3
A SaaS growth shorthand meaning triple, triple, double, double, double annual growth over five years. It is used as an aspirational benchmark for breakout...
Up Round
A financing round raised at a higher valuation than the previous round. Up rounds signal progress and market confidence, though the quality of the underlying...

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