1. Seed Funding 🌱

💰 Stage: Early-stage funding, often the first external investment after bootstrapping.
🎯 Purpose: To develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), conduct market research, and gain initial traction.
💵 Investment Size: Typically ranges from $50K to $2M.
👥 Investors: Usually provided by angel investors, incubators, accelerators, or friends & family.
📜 Equity & Terms: Investors receive equity (ownership) or convertible notes (debt that converts into equity later).
🛠️ Risk Level: Very high risk, as startups at this stage are usually pre-revenue or have minimal traction.

🔹 Example: A startup with an idea and an MVP raises $500K from angel investors to build out its product and test the market.

2. Venture Capital (VC) Funding 🚀

💰 Stage: Later-stage funding, typically after seed funding and early traction.
🎯 Purpose: To scale operations, expand marketing, hire teams, and increase market share.
💵 Investment Size: Ranges from $2M to $100M+, depending on the stage (Series A, B, C, etc.).
👥 Investors: VC firms, institutional investors, and corporate venture arms.
📜 Equity & Terms: Investors take larger equity stakes (often 10-30%) and sometimes require board seats & decision-making power.
🛠️ Risk Level: Still high, but lower than seed funding because the startup has some proven success.

🔹 Example: A startup with $1M in revenue and strong growth metrics raises $10M in Series A funding from a VC firm to expand internationally.

Key Differences: Seed vs. Venture Capital