Incorporation: Venture Capital Funding

High growth incorporation tends to choose ventureventure capitalists; they invest based on the risk and
capital funding to hasten the next growth phase.value of the company and when it's mature for exit,
Venture capitalists who focus on the company'sthey get a higher value. So, it is not about lending in
growth pattern don't require the pledging of assetsthe conventional banking sense. When a corporate
as required by lenders like banks.man approaches a bank, he usually asks how much
Venture capital financing is an option for corporationsthe interest is, the interest payments and what the
with a unique corporate proposition that may earnprincipal is.
high returns on investment of at least 30% a year.A corporation may also fear that the venture
These corporations require large outlays of capital.capitalist may pull out by selling or diluting its stake, if
Venture capitalists normally take an ownership stake,the corporation doesn't perform well. This is one of
to share in the corporation's business risk and profits.the reasons a corporation resort to bank borrowings
Therefore, it may become one of its institutionalinstead.
shareholders. In return, the corporation will benefitA corporation should view venture capitalists as
from the financial and operational support providedcommitted to invest in the company's growth, thus
by the venture capitalist's management team.creating value for themselves while providing
An important consideration for the corporation is tostrategic guidance, business network contacts and
obtain enough capital to capture market share quicklysales referrals.
and additional funds raised through a venture capitalistIt is advisable that corporations to be prepared to
can give the corporation sufficient working capital togive up the controlling stake; an issue that many
market, brand and sell the company's products.corporations are uncomfortable with. However, rather
Having an institutional shareholder or venture capitalistthan focusing on losing control, a corporation should
in a corporation, gives confidence to your customers,consider the benefits derived. When the venture
as the shareholder would have done due diligence oncapitalists invest in a business, there is a certain
the corporation and there is a brand associated withstandard or value placed on the company.
it.A corporation needs to decide if the benefits of
Having a venture capitalist on board also means thatventure capital funding outweigh the disadvantages
corporate governance is part of the company's policyand how important retaining ownership is in the entire
from the start. However, a drawback of ventureequation.
capital financing is that a corporation may feel a lackWhen selecting the corporation in which to invest,
of control as the venture capitalist has stringentventure capitalists tend to look at four criteria, which
covenants like not allowing the corporation to changeare people, technology, capital and market. A venture
its business direction without prior approval.capitalist also usually selects a growing corporation
Some corporations can't understand the differencewith a bottom line or profit after tax is growing by
between lending and investing, as defined by theat least 25% annually.