What do venture capital firms want?

·    Companies with proprietary products and services.

·    Trademarks, Patents, copyrights, exclusive distributorships are typical traits for a company to be considered for       Venture Capital.

·     Financial requirements vary but on average Venture capital firms look for exit returns of 20 to 50 percent per             year.Which in many cases mean completing a public offering in 3t to seven years.

·     Industry preferences and focus are on telecommunications, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, software, hardware,       biotechnology, media, consumer products and services.

·     Funding is usually done in stages

    Seed Stage- Riskiest pre startup money used for feasibility studies, market testing, and forming the business.

    Start Up Stage- Funds used to build the company and continue product development

    First Stage- Organization is in order funds needed for Marketing or manufacturing

    Later stage - Called Mezzanine or Bridge financing

    Second Stage Company is fully operational, products or services are being sold funds are needed to expand.         company may not have turned a profit at this stage of development.

    Third stage funds are needed for major expansion typically the company has made a profit or is at a breakeven      at this point.

·     Geographic Preferences-Usually within 2-3 hours of the firms office but could as far away as Indonesia or               Japan.

   Click here  for a listing of venture capital firms.