Self-Paced Online Course

Raising Finance for Startups

What it really takes to raise venture and angel capital — how investors think, how deals are valued and structured, and how to steer your startup from first pitch to signed term sheet.

  • Self-Paced
  • 12 Study Hours
  • 17 Sections
  • Certificate of Completion
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Course Introduction

About This Course

How investors decide — and how rounds get done

This course explains what's involved in raising finance from venture capitalists, angel investors and other sources. It introduces the venture capital business model and walks through the process by which investors evaluate opportunities — what makes a startup fundable, and how to tell when yours is ready to raise.

From there it gets practical: winning an audience with an investor, pitching, and negotiating and structuring the deal. You'll work through preferred stock and the key investment terms, convertible notes, startup bonds, and how startups are valued in a financing. The course also maps the wider funding landscape — crowdfunding, SBA loans, brokers and intermediaries, incubation, expansion funding and spin-out financing — so you can choose the route that fits your venture's stage and situation.

A certificate of completion is awarded when you successfully complete the course.

Learning Objectives & Outcomes

What you'll be able to do

  • ✓Appreciate the objectives and concerns of venture capital and angel investors.
  • ✓Recognise when a startup is ready to raise funding, and time a round to match the venture's stage and milestones.
  • ✓Distinguish the roles, motivations and expectations of venture capital investors from those of angels — and approach each on its own terms.
  • ✓Win an audience with a venture investor and deliver a pitch that earns the next meeting.
  • ✓Appreciate what investors look for when evaluating startup ventures for potential financing.
  • ✓Value a startup the way venture and other investors do when they set the terms of a deal.
  • ✓Negotiate the key terms of a preferred stock financing investment.
  • ✓Negotiate the key provisions of a convertible note financing.
  • ✓Compare alternative funding instruments — preferred stock, convertible notes, startup bonds and crowdfunding — and choose the right structure for the situation.
  • ✓Understand how securities regulations shape startup financing, and raise capital while staying compliant.
  • ✓Explore wider funding routes — SBA loans, brokers and intermediaries, incubation, expansion funding and spin-out financing — to keep your options open.
  • ✓Navigate a startup venture through the whole process of raising finance from angel and/or venture capital investors.

Course Sections

Seventeen sections, in sequence

  1. 01When Is a Startup Ready to Raise Funding?
  2. 02Understanding Venture Investors
  3. 03Understanding Angel Investors
  4. 04Winning an Audience with a Venture Investor
  5. 05Pitching to Venture Investors
  6. 06Preferred Stock & Investment Terms
  7. 07Valuation of Startup Businesses in Venture Capital & Other Financing
  8. 08Convertible Notes
  9. 09Startup Bonds
  10. 10Funding Considerations for Spin-Outs
  11. 11The Startup Business Plan
  12. 12Innovation in Incubation & Financing
  13. 13Expansion Funding
  14. 14Raising Finance via Brokers & Other Intermediaries
  15. 15Securities Regulations & Startup Financing
  16. 16Crowdfunding for Startups
  17. 17Small Business Administration (SBA) Loans

Goes Well With

The rest of the founder's funding toolkit

Raising a round draws on the full founder's toolkit — a clear sense of the journey ahead, the numbers behind your story, and the legal structure of the deal. These SVBS courses go deeper where it counts. Securities law in particular gets its full treatment in IPO & Securities Regulation, which is why this course can stay focused on the raise itself.

Sherpa, the SVBS AI startup guide — a husky wearing glasses

Sherpa · Your AI Startup Guide

Build the momentum investors fund

This course shows you how investors decide and how rounds get structured. Sherpa helps you put it into motion. A funding round is a milestone — and the surest way to reach it is momentum, the hidden force that pulls investors in. As your AI guide, Sherpa helps you map the milestones that lead to a raise, track the momentum signals investors actually bet on — fundraising progress, customer traction, team and buzz — and take your bearings before cash runs low, drawing on the same "Zero to IPO" methodology to keep you climbing toward your round.

Sherpa is included with the Entrepreneur subscription ($50/month), which adds startup guidance and the Milestone Progress tracker on top of the full course library.

Get Sherpa →

Ready When You Are

Start the Raising Finance for Startups course today

Self-paced, 12 study hours, included with your SVBS subscription alongside the full course library and Prof, your AI course tutor — and you earn a certificate of completion when you finish.

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Certificate of completion included · Cancel anytime · Instant access

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