Venture capital returns
How much of a return do VC companies typically look for?
How much of a return do VC companies typically look for?
Career Resources
Career Advancement Opportunities
July 2026 Investment Banking
Overall Employee Satisfaction
July 2026 Investment Banking
Professional Growth Opportunities
July 2026 Investment Banking
Total Avg Compensation
July 2026 Investment Banking
“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”
Leaderboard
| 1 | 99.2 | |
| 2 | 99.0 | |
| 3 | 99.0 | |
| 4 | 99.0 | |
| 5 | 98.9 | |
| 6 | 98.9 | |
| 7 | 98.9 | |
| 8 | 98.9 | |
| 9 | 98.9 | |
| 10 | 98.8 |
“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
100000%
no joke
So you're telling me if someone is pitching a business to a VC it should have a 100,000% return or they'll be kicked out of the room?
Dear God, you are gullible. Go check wikipedia. I would assume it needs a 20-25% return (PE requires that), but since this is VC and there is considerable more risk it mighe be higher.
When pitching a business to a VC you should definitely have a 100,000% return because VCs will automatically slash 3 zeros off to 100%.
I wasn't confirming what he said dip shit.
My question is to people who work in VC, or maybe just work at all, and not at Abercrombie.
As a VC investor, what is the return you would look for in a project?
I'm not asking what a PE investor looks for, although your knowledge is impossible to come by elsewhere, so thanks for that.
Well half kidding. Some firms typically don't want safe low returns -- they want the next potential googles and as long as one of them makes it, they're golden.
Typically 10x your initial investment is norm.
I know the vast majority of VC is in IT/BioTech... where 10x returns are not at all outside the realm of possibility.... but is this also the case with brick and mortar VC investments?
IRR of at least 40% typically (double a PE firm's hurdle of 20% due to added risk, etc.)
It depends on the stage of the investment. Early stage or angel investors look for much higher returns... the last early stage deal I saw was looking for a 45x return (they don't use percentages in VC btw). 10x is nothing in VC... at least where I am.
Those are probably levered returns. They get x10 levered. Actual return on assets is lower.
Venture returns as a whole have actually been negative over the last ten years.
it totally depends on the stage of investment. i don't think VC's think of it as IRR. they think in terms of times money. a seed stage and early stage investor will look for significant returns (e.g. over 10x money) whereas a late stage / growth equity investor could be looking for ~3x money. it totally depends on the type of investment, transaction structure, nature of the company, etc.
50% gross IRR which equates to ~35% IRR net of fees for growth equity/venture investments is what I've seen from multiple fund profiles.
IRR is useless in this debate, multiples are all that matter. In the vast majority of VC funds there will be 15 investments, 8 will return 0.0x, 5 will return 0.8x, 1 will return 2.5x and 1 will return 12x.
An investment will only be made where the manager thinks there is potential to earn 10x, even greater in early stage venture.
The PE shop I work at looks for ~30% returns on top of the fees it charges clients, so around mid to upper 30s IRR. VC tends to be around 10% higher.
I have heard similar things to the last poster, but that in VC, a PM will look for 25 companies, with 20 losing money, 4 having reasonable returns and 1 making a killing.
Depends on the stage.
A good approximate for the returns VC's chase: Seed: ~100x + Early: At least 10x Growth: At least 3x etc.
Seed investors invest in the dream. Series A VC's invest considering the traction + the dream. Series B onwards investments become more finance and numbers-driven.
The earlier the stage, the higher the multiple is sought just from a simple risk-return mentality.
What kind of yield/return to VCs/Angel Investors normally look for in a short/mid/long term investment? (Originally Posted: 12/04/2011)
Short Term (say 5 years) Mid Term (5~10 years) Long Term (over 10)
One angel investor I talked to said he looks for something that he can make 10x his investment on in 3-4 years. He doesn't always get that obviously, but he wants the potential to make 10x his money in just a few years in every investment.
Architecto sed occaecati quidem officiis ipsa. Libero ipsa sapiente dolor ducimus eius eaque. Nostrum quia hic maxime autem quia accusantium. Deserunt placeat totam perferendis tenetur facere ducimus. Et atque voluptas odio porro quae odio sunt. Illo odio ea eligendi adipisci alias et. Commodi aut et vitae dolorem dignissimos.
Veritatis eius delectus qui. Laborum voluptas non iusto eos laborum sit. Omnis rerum voluptates perferendis illo iure id.
Numquam nam amet quis vel. Rerum quod sunt illum repellat qui. Optio qui sed quia. Et sint cumque earum est. Quos ut nisi et suscipit. Esse reprehenderit repellat dolore hic fugiat rerum exercitationem aspernatur.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...