The time horizon for startups varies. But there is a typical evolution of growth by stage or round of capital. And typically each VC fund will focus its investing activity on a specific stage or round of capital. At the pre-seed stage. Company development involves concept development, product or service, prototype development and beta testing. And the investor profile includes friends and family angels, bootstrapping founders, incubators, grants, and other non-dilutive investments. At the seed and seed plus stages. Company development sees proof of concept user testing, product or service validation and business planning. And the investor profile includes angels, family offices, seed funds, accelerators, and corporate VC. At the series A and B stages, company development is revenue generation, customer acquisition company infrastructure development. And the investor profile is angel investors, family offices, and early stage VC funds.

At the series C and beyond stage with company development, we see growth, scaling, and profitability. And the investor profile is family offices, later stage VC funds and venture debt capital lenders. Typically VC funds do not invest until the series A round. VC funds are often referred to as institutional capital, and a series A is often referred to as a startup's first institutional round. Some VC funds will structure their primary series A fund and carve out a smaller opportunistic or seed extension fund, but these are not the norm. Another recent development has been the formation of seed funds, which is like an institutional VC fund targeting seed stage investments.