Startup glossary, A to Z.

A

Accelerator Programmes

A fixed-length programme (often 3–6 months) that gives early startups mentoring, a peer cohort, investor access and sometimes a small investment in exchange for equity. Most end with a demo day. See accelerators we list.

Angel investor Funding

An individual who invests their own money in early-stage startups, usually at pre-seed or seed, in exchange for equity or a convertible instrument.

ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) Metrics

The yearly value of recurring subscription revenue. Usually calculated as MRR × 12. Used mainly by SaaS businesses.

B

Bootstrapping Funding

Building a company with founder savings and customer revenue instead of outside investment.

Burn rate Metrics

How much cash a company spends each month. Gross burn is total monthly spend; net burn is spend minus revenue.

C

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) Metrics

Total sales and marketing spend in a period divided by the number of new customers won in that period.

Cap table Legal

A table showing who owns what in a company: founders, employees (ESOP), investors, and how ownership changes after each round.

Churn Metrics

The share of customers (or revenue) lost over a period. Monthly churn of 3% means roughly a third of customers leave over a year.

Cliff Legal

A period, usually one year, before any shares vest. If a founder or employee leaves before the cliff, they keep nothing from that grant.

Cloud credits Programmes

Free usage credits from cloud and AI providers such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure or Anthropic, given to eligible startups. See credit programmes.

Cohort Programmes

A batch of startups that go through an accelerator or incubator at the same time.

Convertible note Funding

A short-term loan that converts into equity at a later priced round, usually with a discount and/or valuation cap, plus interest and a maturity date.

D

Demo day Programmes

The final event of an accelerator where each startup pitches to a room of investors.

Dilution Funding

The fall in an existing shareholder's ownership percentage when the company issues new shares, for example in a funding round or an ESOP top-up.

Down round Funding

A funding round at a lower valuation than the previous one.

DPIIT recognition India

Recognition of an Indian company as a startup by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Startup India initiative. It unlocks tax, compliance and IP benefits. See our DPIIT guide.

Due diligence Funding

The checks an investor runs before investing: legal, financial, product, team and market.

E

ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) Legal

A pool of shares (often 10–15% of the company) reserved to grant as options to employees, usually with vesting.

Exit Funding

The event where investors and founders turn shares into cash: an acquisition, merger or IPO.

G

Go-to-market (GTM) Growth

The plan for how a product reaches and wins customers: target segment, pricing, channels, sales motion and messaging.

Grant Programmes

Non-dilutive funding from a government or foundation that does not need to be repaid and takes no equity. See grants.

Gross margin Metrics

Revenue minus the direct cost of delivering the product, as a percentage of revenue.

I

Incubator Programmes

An organisation, often attached to a university or government body, that supports very early startups with space, mentoring and sometimes seed funding over a longer, less structured period than an accelerator.

IPO (Initial Public Offering) Funding

When a private company first sells shares to the public on a stock exchange.

L

Lead investor Funding

The investor who sets the terms of a round, usually puts in the largest cheque and often takes a board seat.

Liquidation preference Legal

A term that decides who gets paid first, and how much, when the company is sold or wound up. A 1x non-participating preference is the most founder-friendly common form.

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) Metrics

The total gross profit a company expects to earn from one customer over the whole relationship. An LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or more is often seen as healthy.

M

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) Metrics

Predictable revenue from subscriptions each month.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product) Product

The simplest version of a product that lets you test your core idea with real users.

N

Non-dilutive funding Funding

Money that does not cost equity: grants, prizes, cloud credits, revenue-based financing and some loans.

P

Pitch deck Funding

A short presentation (usually 10–15 slides) that explains your startup to investors. See how to build one.

Post-money valuation Funding

The company's value immediately after new money is invested. Post-money = pre-money + new investment.

Pre-money valuation Funding

The company's value just before new money comes in.

Pre-seed Funding

The earliest funding round, often from founders, friends and family, angels or accelerators, used to build an MVP and find first users.

Pro rata rights Legal

An investor's right to invest in future rounds to keep their ownership percentage.

Product-market fit (PMF) Product

The point where a product clearly satisfies strong demand in a market: users stay, pay and refer others without heavy pushing.

R

Runway Metrics

How many months a company can operate before cash runs out. Runway = cash in the bank ÷ monthly net burn.

S

SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) Funding

An agreement created by Y Combinator where an investor pays now and receives shares at a future priced round. Unlike a convertible note, it has no interest or maturity date. See SAFE vs notes vs priced rounds.

Seed round Funding

An early round used to reach product-market fit and early traction, typically from angels, micro-VCs and seed funds.

Series A Funding

Usually the first institutional venture round after seed, raised once a startup has clear traction and a repeatable way to grow.

T

TAM, SAM, SOM Growth

Market sizing. TAM is the total market, SAM the part your product can serve, SOM the share you can realistically win in the next few years.

Term sheet Legal

A short, mostly non-binding document setting out the key terms of an investment before the full legal agreements are drafted. See term sheet basics.

Traction Metrics

Evidence that a business is working: revenue, users, growth rate, retention, pilots or signed contracts.

U

Unit economics Metrics

The revenue and costs tied to a single unit, such as one customer or one order. Good unit economics mean each sale is profitable once acquisition costs are paid back.

V

Valuation cap Legal

The maximum valuation at which a SAFE or convertible note converts into equity, protecting early investors if the company's value rises sharply.

Venture capital (VC) Funding

Professional funds that invest other people's money into high-growth startups in exchange for equity, expecting a few big winners to return the fund.

Venture studio Programmes

An organisation that co-builds startups alongside founders, giving capital, people and operating help, rather than only investing. Kreeaa is a venture studio. Learn more.

Vesting Legal

Earning shares over time, typically over four years with a one-year cliff, so that founders and employees who leave early do not keep their full stake.