venture capital

American  

[ven-cher kap-i-tl] / ˈvɛn tʃər ˌkæp ɪ tl /

noun

1. funds invested or available for investment in a new or unproven business enterprise (often used attributively): a venture capital firm. VC

   Startups may seek private equity or venture capital as alternative funding sources;

   a venture capital firm.

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venture capital British  

noun

1. capital that is provided for a new commercial enterprise by individuals or organizations other than those who own the new enterprise

2. another name for risk capital

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Other Word Forms

• venture capitalism
  noun
• venture capitalist
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of venture capital

First recorded in 1940–45

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

venture capital

"Infidelity is obviously bad," wrote Shaun Maguire, a partner at venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2026

But that confidence isn’t reflected in funding from venture capital, which is what the earliest-stage biotechs usually rely on.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

An industry report in 2024 found that drugmakers developing vaccines for infectious diseases received just 3.4% of all biopharma venture capital in the preceding decade.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

Home-security company ADT has agreed to be acquired for $7.6 billion in cash by Thrive Holdings, an investment vehicle formed by Josh Kushner’s venture capital firm, Thrive Capital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Investment and venture capital funds became the second most important source quantitatively.

From After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Samuel Vaknin

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Related Words

• working capital

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