Industry WIKI

An accredited or sophisticated investor is an investor with a special status under financial regulation laws. The definition of an accredited investor (if any), and the consequences of being classified as such, vary between countries. Generally, accredited investors include high-net-worth individuals, banks, financial institutions, and other large corporations, who have access to complex

Actis LLP is a global investment firm focused on sustainable infrastructure, in particular the energy, infrastructure, and real estate asset classes.

All-In is an American business and technology podcast hosted by four venture capitalists: Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg. The show delivers long-form discussions of current events, markets, technology, and public policy, in addition to a live events franchise called the "All-In Summit."

Almaz Capital is a global VC fund headquartered in Portola Valley, California, United States investing in early stage, capital efficient technology companies in high-growth sectors. Almaz Capital focuses on disruptive

The American Investment Council (AIC), formerly the Private Equity Growth Capital Council (PEGCC), is a lobbying, advocacy, and research organization based in Washington, D.C., that was launched by a consortium of private equity firms in February 2007. It focuses on defending and promoting the private equity and growth capital investment industry to lawmakers and the public at large. Its

American Research & Development Corporation (ARD) was an American investment firm founded in Boston in 1946. Considered the first modern venture capital firm in the United States, the firm set industry precedents by combining institutional capital with professional selection and oversight of early-stage ventures.

Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd. is a Hong Kong–based game software company and venture capital company co-founded in 2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim. The company initially focused on developing mobile games, then shifted to blockchain gaming and NFTs in 2018, and to AI in 2025.

Assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management (FUD), refers in finance to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institution—or a decentralized network protocol manages and invests, typically on behalf of its clients. Funds may be managed for clients, platform users, or

Bellevue Group AG, headquartered in Zurich, is a listed investment management corporation based in Switzerland. The company is active in the areas of healthcare investments, investments in small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as multi asset and bonds.

BitClout was an open source blockchain-based social media platform. On the platform, users could post short-form writings and photos, award money to posts they particularly like by clicking a diamond icon, as well as buy and sell "creator coins" (personalized tokens whose value depends on people's reputations). BitClout ran on a custom proof of work blockchain, and was a prototype of wha

Bitwala is a Berlin-based cryptocurrency financial services company offering a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet, a Visa debit card, crypto trading, and crypto-backed loans. The company was founded in 2015 by Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, and Benjamin P. Jones. After operating briefly under the name Nuri from 2021 to 2022, the company returned to the Bitwala brand in late 2023 following

Boku, Inc. is a mobile payments company that allows businesses to collect online payments through both carrier billing and mobile wallets, and is headquartered in London, U.K. Boku utilizes mobile network operator (carrier) data for consumers online. Boku operates in over 90 countries globally, offering a bank-grade payment system.

Brigade Capital Management, LP, more commonly referred to as Brigade Capital, is a global alternative investment manager specializing in credit investment strategies. The firm employs a multi-strategy, multi-asset class investment approach focused on leveraged balance sheets and manages core strategies across long/short credit, distressed debt, capital structure arbitrage, long/short eq

A Business Development Company (BDC) is a form of unregistered closed-end investment company in the United States that invests in small and mid-sized businesses. This form of company was created by the US Congress in 1980 in the amendments to the Investment Company Act of 1940. Publicly filing firms may elect regulation as BDCs if they meet certain requirements of the Investment Company

BGF, established in 2011 as the Business Growth Fund, is a leading European mid-market private equity and investment firm that provides scaleup support for small and mid-sized businesses. The firm is recognised as The United Kingdom and Ireland's most active growth equity investor.

RealCadre LLC, commonly Cadre, is an American financial technology company that provides individuals and institutions direct access to real estate investment properties, including commercial properties based in New York. The business and financial press describe it as a platform that "makes the real estate market more like the stock market" by allowing investors to select the individual

Carried interest, or carry, in finance, is a share of the profits of an investment paid to the investment manager specifically in alternative investments (private equity and hedge funds). It is a performance fee, rewarding the manager for enhancing performance. Since these fees are generally not taxed as normal income, some believe that the structure unfairly takes advantage of favorable

CashU was an Arabic fintech company providing a digital wallet and online payment services for customers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company was founded as a technology startup in July 2002 in association with online service company Maktoob in Amman, Jordan. It provided payment services for Maktoob online services. The company went through a number of rounds of

Clifford Todd Boro is an American entrepreneur and startup investor. He is best known as cofounder and former CEO of KidZui (now Zui.com), a child-oriented web browser and search engine. Saban Brands bought Zui.com in September 2012. He founded Internet Financial Network (later Infogate). AOL Time Warner bought Infogate in March 2003. He is cofounder and managing partner of The Team Gr

A closed-end fund (CEF), also known as a closed-end mutual fund, is an investment vehicle fund that raises capital by issuing a fixed number of shares at its inception, and then invests that capital in financial assets such as stocks and bonds. After inception it is closed to new capital, although fund managers sometimes employ leverage. Investors can buy and sell the existing shares in

A club deal, in finance, refers to a leveraged buyout or other private equity investment that involves two or more private equity firms. It can also be referred as consortium or syndicated investment.

CoinShares International Limited is a financial services provider and asset manager based in Jersey that specializes in digital assets (especially cryptocurrencies). The company, headquartered in St. Helier (Jersey), was founded in 2013 / 2014 and is considered one of the first companies in the crypto investment sector. CoinShares offers institutional and private investors access to cryp

A collective trust fund or collective investment trust (CIT) is a legal trust administered by a bank or trust company that combines assets for multiple investors who meet specific requirements set forth in the fund's declaration of trust. Typically, a collective trust pools assets from corporate and governmental profit sharing, pension and stock bonus plans, and charitable and other tax

Corgi is an American insurance technology company based in San Francisco that operates as a licensed insurance carrier for technology startups. The company was founded in 2024 and received regulatory approval to operate as an admitted insurance carrier in 2025. Its product line includes directors and officers liability, cyber insurance, commercial general liability, and AI liability cove

Corporate venture capital (CVC) is the investment of corporate funds directly in external startup companies. CVC is defined by the Business Dictionary as the "practice where a large firm takes an equity stake in a small but innovative or specialist firm, to which it may also provide management and marketing expertise; the objective is to gain a specific competitive advantage." Examples o

CrossHarbor Capital Partners is an American investment firm, specializing in private equity, based in Boston. CrossHarbor Capital Partners develops and manages private equity investment products in three principal business areas: real assets, distressed securities and mezzanine capital. CrossHarbor has assets under management of $5.5 billion diversified over a half dozen distinct funds

Discretionary investment management is a form of professional investment management in which investments are made on behalf of clients through a variety of securities. The term "discretionary" refers to investment decisions being made by the investment manager based on the investment manager's judgement rather than under the direction of the client. The major aim of the services offered

In private equity investing, distribution waterfall is a method by which the capital gained by the fund is allocated between the limited partners (LPs) and the general partner (GP).

The early history of private equity relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

EarnIn is an American earnings management company that provides earned wage access services and other financial and payroll-related services.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, commonly known as EBITDA ( EE-bit-dah, EB-it-dah), is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, before any effects of indebtedness, state-mandated payments, and costs required to maintain its asset base. It is derived by subtracting from revenues all costs of the operating business (e.g., wages,

Edelweiss Group (officially known as Edelweiss Financial Services Limited) is an investment and financial services company based in Mumbai. It was co-founded by Rashesh Shah and Venkat Ramaswamy.

Enterprise Capital Fund is a British government financial programme that provides venture capital funding to Start-up companies that is operated by the British Business Bank.

Envy ratio, in finance, refers to the ratio of the price paid by investors to the price paid by the management team for their respective shares of equity.

An equity co-investment (or co-investment) is a minority investment, made directly into an operating company, alongside a financial sponsor or other private equity investor, in a leveraged buyout, recapitalization or growth capital transaction. In certain circumstances, venture capital firms may also seek co-investors.

Ewan Mckinnon Kirk (born February 1961) is a British technology entrepreneur, founder of Cantab Capital Partners, chair of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences and Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems. He is also Co-Chair of the Turner Kirk Trust which supports STEM, education and conservation causes in the UK and the developing world.

A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer wealth across generations. The company's financial capital is the family's own wealth.

Financial services in China refers to the services provided in China by the finance industry: banks, investment banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, consumer finance companies, government sponsored enterprises, and stock brokerages.

A financial sponsor is a private equity investment firm, particularly a private equity firm that engages in leveraged buyout transactions.

Financière Agache SA is an investment holding company based in Paris that is the controlling shareholder of Dior and LVMH. It is controlled by Agache SCA, a company owned by Bernard Arnault and his family.

The First Chicago method or venture capital method is a business valuation approach used by venture capital and private equity investors that combines elements of both a multiples-based valuation and a discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation approach.

The House of Fugger (German pronunciation: [ˈfʊɡɐ]) is a German family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists. Alongside the Welser family, the Fugger family controlled much of the European economy in the sixteenth century and

Fund administration is the name given to the execution of back office activities including fund accounting, financial reporting, net asset value calculation, capital calls, distributions, investor communications and other functions carried out in support of an investment fund, which may take the form of a traditional mutual fund, a hedge fund, a private equity fund, a venture capital fun

A "fund of funds" (FOF) is an investment strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in stocks, bonds or other securities. This type of investing is often referred to as multi-manager investment. A fund of funds may be "fettered", meaning that it invests only in funds managed by the same investment company, or "unfettered", meaning that it can

Galaxy Digital Inc., doing business as Galaxy, is an American financial services and infrastructure company headquartered in New York City. The company focuses on digital assets, cryptocurrency, blockchain infrastructure, and artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center infrastructure. Its digital asset businesses include over-the-counter trading, lending, investmen

Georges Frédéric Doriot (English: dor-EE-oh, French: [ʒɔʁʒ fʁedeʁik dɔʁjo]; 24 September 1899 – 2 June 1987) was a French-born American professor, military officer and venture capitalist.

GK Investment Holding Group SA is a Lugano-based private equity and investment firm whose primary focus is in the healthcare Real Estate, Private Equity and Consultancy sector. The principal areas of investment interest are in Africa, Europe, and Asia.

A growth buyout (GBO) is an acquisition intended to allow an investor or holding company to capitalize on the market growth of a maturing portfolio company. Unlike growth equity, which typically involves minority ownership, a growth buyout usually involves acquiring a large or controlling stake. Because growth buyouts are typically financed with less debt than conventional leveraged buyo

Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority interest, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets or finance a significant acquisition without a change of control of the business.

In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events but offer higher yields than investment-grade bonds to compensate for the increased risk.

The history of private equity, venture capital, and the development of these asset classes has occurred through a series of boom-and-bust cycles since the middle of the 20th century. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel, although interrelated tracks.

Institutional Capital Network, Inc (doing business as iCapital) is an American fintech company that provides platform solutions related to alternative investments in the private markets.

ICLUB is a global community of angel investment clubs founded by Viktoriya Tihipko's TA Ventures in 2018. ICLUB's clubs invest in startups sourced, approved and invested by the European venture fund TA Ventures. ICLUB acts as an intermediary between startups and private investors.

Infinity Group is a private equity fund backed by China Development Bank and Clal Industries. The head of Infinity Group is Amir Gal-Or. Infinity Group manages RMB 10 billion and 100 portfolio companies, through 17 local RMB funds throughout China.

An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked companies, insurers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, charities, hedge funds, real estate investment trusts, investment advisors, endowments, a

Mint, also known as Intuit Mint and formerly known as Mint.com, was a personal financial management website and mobile app for the US and Canada produced by Intuit, Inc. (which also produces TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma). Mint's primary service allowed users to track bank, credit card, investment, and loan balances and transactions through a single user interface, as well as cr

James Patrick O'Shaughnessy (born May 24, 1960) is an American investor and venture capitalist, who is the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures. He is the founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC, an asset management firm that Franklin Templeton later acquired.

Kelkar committee to evaluate PPP in India was a committee set up to study and evaluate the extant public-private partnership (PPP) model in India. The committee was set up by India's central government and headed by Vijay Kelkar. The committee was set up following 2015 Union budget of India by the then finance minister of India Arun Jaitley. It comprised 10 members. The committee submit

Kirkbi A/S is a Danish investment management company headquartered in Billund, Denmark, that serves as a family office to manage the fortune of the Kristiansen family, the current owners of the Lego Group. It owns 75% of The Lego Group, 47.5% of Merlin Entertainments, and 100% of BrainPop.

A labour-sponsored venture capital corporation (LSVCC), known alternately as labour-sponsored investment fund (LSIF) or simply retail venture capital (RVC), is a fund managed by investment professionals that invests in small to mid-sized Canadian companies. The Canadian federal government and some provincial governments offer tax credits to LSVCC investors to promote the growth of such c

A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loans, along with the assets of the acquiring company. The use of debt, which normally has a lower cost of capital than equity, serves to reduce the o

In corporate finance, a leveraged recapitalization is a change of the company's capital structure, usually substitution of debt for equity.

A listed investment company (LIC) is an Australian closed-end collective investment scheme similar to investment trusts in the UK and closed-end funds in the United States. Instead of regularly issuing new shares or canceling shares as investors join and leave the fund, investors buy and sell to each other on the ASX. They are traded like other securities on the Australian stock exchange

Made In Cookware is a privately owned manufacturer of high-end kitchen supplies based in Austin, Texas. It sells stainless steel sets, nonstick and regular frying pans, stockpots, saucers, woks, knife sets, and other cookware to professional chefs and home cooks through its e-commerce site.

A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management and leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 1980s business economics and most frequently refer to leveraged transactions where managers take a company private. These transactions, while originat

In the investment advisory industry, a management fee is a periodic payment that is paid by an investment fund to the fund's investment adviser for investment and portfolio management services. Often, the fee covers not only investment advisory services, but administrative services as well. Usually, the fee is calculated as a percentage of assets under management.

"Manager of managers" (MoM) is an investment approach by institutions who proprietary manage capital. Different investment managers are selected and investment mandates given to them. The allocated capital is then managed in Separate Managed Accounts by the respective selected asset managers. It is a solution often offered by big asset management divisions from investment banks but also

Martingale pricing is a pricing approach based on the notions of martingale and risk neutrality. The martingale pricing approach is a cornerstone of modern quantitative finance and can be applied to a variety of derivatives contracts, e.g. options, futures, interest rate derivatives, credit derivatives, etc.

Mezzanine capital is a type of financing that sits between senior debt and equity in a company's capital structure. It is typically used to fund growth, acquisitions, or buyouts. Technically, mezzanine capital can be either a debt or equity instrument with a repayment priority between senior debt and common stock equity. Mezzanine debt is subordinated debt that represents a claim on a co

Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), which led to his reputation as the "Junk Bond King", and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony charges for violating U.S. securities laws. Milken's compensation while head of the high-yield bond departme

A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually one that occurs online. Several micropayment systems were proposed and developed in the mid-to-late 1990s that were ultimately unsuccessful. A second generation of micropayment systems emerged in the 2010s.

Mousse Partners is an investment management firm based in Bermuda that serves as a family office to manage the wealth of Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, the current owners of French luxury fashion house, Chanel. It is the investment division of Mousse Investments Limited (formerly Litor Limited), a Cayman Islands holding company for Chanel and its subsidiaries.

NAV (Net Asset Value) lending is a form of fund-level financing where loans are secured by the value of a private equity fund’s investments rather than the uncalled capital commitments of limited partners (LPs). NAV-based credit facilities provide liquidity to private equity funds by allowing them to borrow against the underlying portfolio. These facilities differ from subscription line

Net asset value (NAV) is the value of an entity's assets minus the value of its liabilities, often in relation to open-end, mutual funds, hedge funds, and venture capital funds. Shares of such funds registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are usually bought and redeemed at their net asset value. It is also a key figure with regard to hedge funds and venture capital fu

An offshore fund is generally a collective investment scheme domiciled in an offshore jurisdiction. Like the term "offshore company", the term is more descriptive than definitive, and both the words 'offshore' and 'fund' may be construed differently.

OFX Group Limited is an Australian financial technology company that provides international payments, foreign exchange and spend management services. It is headquartered in Sydney and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

An operating partner is a title used by venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms to describe a role dedicated to working with privately held companies to increase value. The role was created by large-capitalization private equity groups when the importance of driving corporate change to add value increased as sellers became more sophisticated and financial engineering less cent

Partnerships UK plc (PUK) was a centralized unit responsible for furthering public-private partnerships in the United Kingdom. It was a public limited company formed in 2000, owned jointly by HM Treasury and the private sector. It ceased activity in 2011.

Patricia Mary Cloherty (July 2, 1942 – September 23, 2022) was an American businesswoman, company director, and private equity financier. She was the chairman and CEO of Delta Private Equity Partners. Cloherty served as manager of The U.S. Russia Investment Fund and Delta Russia Fund, two venture capital funds which operated in Russia. In 2004, Cloherty was named Businessperson of the Ye

Patron Capital Partners ("Patron") is a European private equity real estate fund with its main investment advisor, Patron Capital Advisers LLP based in London, United Kingdom. Patron Capital Partners represents approximately €4.0 billion of equity across several funds and related co-investments.

Pequot Capital Management was a multibillion-dollar hedge fund sponsor that closed in 2010. The firm's investment funds invested in a range of markets through a variety of strategies. The firm invested in public equities as well as private equity, venture capital, distressed securities, and various other fixed income securities. The firm closed in 2010 following allegations of insider t

A performance fee is a fee that a client account or an investment fund may be charged by the investment manager that manages its assets in addition to its management fee.

Peter Andreas Thiel ( ; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund, he was also the first outside investor in Facebook. As of October 2026, Forbes estimated Thiel's net worth at US$37.7 billion.

A platform cooperative, or platform co-op, is a cooperatively owned, democratically governed business that establishes a two-sided market via a computing platform, website, mobile app or a protocol to facilitate the sale of goods and services. Platform cooperatives are an alternative to venture capital-funded platforms insofar as they are owned and governed by those who depend on them mo

Post-money valuation is a way of expressing the value of a company after an investment has been made. This value is equal to the sum of the pre-money valuation and the amount of new equity.

"Pre-money valuation" is a term widely used in the private equity and venture capital industries. It refers to the valuation of a company or asset prior to an investment or financing. If an investment adds cash to a company, the company will have a valuation after the investment that is equal to the pre-money valuation plus the cash amount. That is, the pre-money valuation refers to the

Private credit is an aspect of the shadow banking system involving assets defined by non-bank lending where the debt is not issued or traded on the public markets. "Private credit" can also be referred to as "direct lending" or "private lending". It is a subset of "alternative credit". Estimations of the global private credit industry's size vary; as of April 2024, the International Mone

A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a startup or of an existing operating company with the end goal to make a profit on its investments. The target companies are generally privately owned (not publicly listed), but on rare

A private equity fund (PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity. Private equity funds are typically limited partnerships with a fixed term of 10 years (often with one- or two-year extensions). At inception, institutional inv

Private equity in the 1980s relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

Private equity in the 1990s relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital, experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

Private equity in the 2000s represents one of the major growth periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital, expanded along parallel and interrelated tracks.

Private equity (PE) expanded throughout the 2010s. As of 2019, there were nearly 7,000 PE firms within the United States, nearly $2.5 trillion globally in unspent cash (known as dry powder), and deal-making in private equity accounted for 13% of global acquisitions.

In the 2020s private equity (PE) firms responded to the COVID-19 recession with a surge in funding.

A private investment in public equity, commonly known as a PIPE deal, involves selling of publicly traded common shares or some form of preferred stock or convertible security to private investors. It is an allocation of shares in a public company not through a public offering in a stock exchange. PIPE deals are part of the primary market. In the U.S., a PIPE offering may be registered w

A private placement agent or placement agent is a firm assisting fund managers in the alternative asset class (e.g., private equity, infrastructure, real estate, hedge funds, and venture capital) and entrepreneurs/private companies (e.g., start-ups and growth capital companies) seeking to raise private financing through a so-called private placement.

In finance, the Private Equity Secondary Market (also often called Private Equity Secondaries or Secondaries) refers to the buying and selling of pre-existing investor commitments to private equity and other alternative investment funds or the underlying private equity assets (e.g., credit secondaries). Unlike public markets, private-equity interests lack an established trading exchange,

The public market equivalent (PME) is a collection of performance measures developed to assess private equity funds and to overcome the limitations of the internal rate of return and multiple on invested capital measurements. While the calculations differ, they all attempt to measure the return from deploying a private equity fund's cash flows into a stock market index.

Publicly traded private equity, also known as publicly quoted private equity or publicly listed private equity, is an investment firm or investment vehicle, which makes investments conforming to one of the various private equity strategies, and is listed on a public stock exchange.

Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund or QIAIF is a Central Bank of Ireland regulatory classification established in 2013 for Ireland's five tax-free legal structures for holding assets. The Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle or ICAV is the most popular of the five Irish QIAIF structures, it is the main tax-free structure for foreign investors holding Irish assets.