If you are starting a for profit business, the very minimal selection of small business grants made available by the U.S. government will probably not be of much help to you. For more information on this subject check out our recent article on the hype regarding free small business grants. However, this is an exciting, booming time for business and there are many options for securing startup capital, one of them being venture capital firms. Venture capitalists will usually invest anywhere from $500,000 all the way up to several million dollars in a startup or established small business. Venture capital firms are serious, full-time investment firms and usually require a much larger share and much more control over your business than other sources of business funding. However, because of this they play a more proactive role – they’ll rally around you to do as much as possible (provide contacts, etc) to ensure that your business succeeds and they see a handsome return on their investment.
Finding the right source of venture capital for your business will require shopping your business ideas around with various firms until you find the deal you like. Below you will find a list of the top 160 venture capital firms in the United States which are focused on funding new and early stage businesses and companies. They are listed in order according to how many deals they make each year, the top of the list making the most deals.
Maryland Technology Development Corporation Columbia, MD
Draper Fisher Jurvetson Menlo Park, CA
Ignition Partners Bellevue, WA
Austin Ventures Austin, TX
Mobius Venture Capital Palo Alto, CA
Versant Ventures Menlo Park, CA
ARCH Venture Partners Chicago, IL
Enterprise Partners Venture Capital La Jolla, CA
MPM Capital Boston, MA
Tech Coast Angels Laguna Hills, CA
Venrock Associates New York City, NY
Angels Forum & the Halo Fund Los Altos, CA
Band of Angels Menlo Park, CA
Intel Capital Santa Clara, CA
Mayfield Fund Menlo Park, CA
Noro Moseley Partners Atlanta, GA
Rho Ventures New York City, NY
Village Ventures Williamstown, MA
Altira Group Denver, CO
Benchmark Capital Menlo Park, CA
Domain Associates Princeton, NJ
General Catalyst Partners Cambridge, MA
Highland Capital Partners Lexington, MA
Insight Venture Partners New York, NY
New Enterprise Associates Baltimore, MD
Novak Biddle Venture Partners Bethesda, MD
Redpoint Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Sequoia Capital Menlo Park, CA
Sevin Rosen Funds Dallas, TX
U.S. Venture Partners Menlo Park, CA
Alloy Ventures Palo Alto, CA
Appian Ventures Denver, CO
Bay Partners Cupertino, CA
Edison Venture Fund Lawrenceville, NJ
Flagship Ventures Cambridge, MA
Frazier Healthcare and Technology Ventures Seattle, WA
Hummer Winblad Venture Partners San Francisco, CA
InterWest Partners Menlo Park, CA
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Menlo Park, CA
North Bridge Venture Partners Waltham, MA
Oak Investment Partners Westport, CT
Oxford Bioscience Partners Boston, MA
Polaris Venture Partners Waltham, MA
Three Arch Partners Portola Valley, CA
Accel Partners Palo Alto, CA
Allegis Capital Palo Alto, CA
Alta Partners San Francisco, CA
ArrowPath Venture Capital Redwood City, CA
August Capital Management Menlo Park, CA
Aurora Funds Durham, NC
Bessemer Venture Partners Larchmont, NY
Canaan Partners Rowayton, CT
Draper Atlantic Venture Fund Reston, VA
Greylock Waltham, MA
Innovation Works Pittsburgh, PA
Intersouth Partners Durham, NC
Kline Hawkes & Co. Brentwood, CA
Lightspeed Venture Partners Menlo Park, CA
Maryland Dept. of Business & Economic Development Baltimore, MD
Menlo Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Mohr Davidow Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Morgenthaler Ventures Menlo Park, CA
New Jersey Technology Council Mount Laurel, NJ
OVP Venture Partners Kirkland, WA
Palomar Ventures Santa Monica, CA
Partech International San Francisco, CA
Red River Ventures Addison, TX
Storm Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Sutter Hill Ventures Palo Alto, CA
Techno Venture Management Boston, MA
The Venture Capital Fund of New England Wellesley Hills, MA
Walden International San Francisco, CA
Advanced Technology Ventures Waltham, MA
Advent International plc Boston, MA
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Pasadena, CA
Ampersand Ventures Wellesley, MA
Atlas Venture Waltham, MA
Battery Ventures Wellesley, MA
Buerk Dale Victor Seattle, WA
Burrill & Company San Francisco, CA
C&B Capital Atlanta, GA
CMEA Ventures San Francisco, CA
Care Capital Princeton, NJ
Charles River Ventures Waltham, MA
Citizens Capital Boston, MA
Clayton Associates Franklin, TN
Columbia Capital Alexandria, VA
Council Ventures Nashville, TN
Crosslink Capital San Francisco, CA
De Novo Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Doll Capital Management Menlo Park, CA
Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Venture Partners New York City, NY
Globespan Capital Partners Boston, MA
Granite Ventures San Francisco, CA
Grayhawk Venture Partners Phoenix, AZ
HLM Venture Partners Boston, MA
JK&B Capital Chicago, IL
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Menlo Park, CA
Longworth Venture Partners Waltham, MA
Menlo Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds Bethlehem, PA
New England Partners Boston, MA
Norwest Venture Partners Palo Alto, CA
Oak Investment Partners Westport, CT
Pennsylvania Early Stage Partners Wayne, PA
Pequot Capital Management Westport, CT
Prism Venture Partners Westwood, MA
Prospect Venture Partners Palo Alto, CA
Sanders Morris Harris Houston, TX
Sequoia Capital Menlo Park, CA
Sprout Group New York City, NY
Stonehenge Capital Company Baton Rouge, LA
Thomas, McNerney & Partners Minneapolis, MN
Trident Capital Palo Alto, CA
Valley Ventures Tempe, AZ
Venture Strategy Partners San Francisco, CA
Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology Herndon, VA
Voyager Capital Seattle, WA
WI Harper Group San Francisco, CA
Woodside Fund Redwood City, CA
vSpring Capital Salt Lake City, UT
ABS Capital Partners Baltimore, MD
Apax Partners New York, NY
Apex Venture Partners Chicago, IL
Austin Ventures Austin, TX
Benchmark Capital Menlo Park, CA
Blue Chip Venture Company Cincinnati, OH
Carmel Ventures Herzeliya, Israel
ComVentures Palo Alto, CA
Core Capital Partners Washington, DC
Delta Capital Management Cordova, TN
El Dorado Ventures Menlo Park, CA
Frontier Capital Charlotte, NC
Greylock Waltham, MA
Highland Capital Partners Lexington, MA
Hispania Capital Partners Chicago, IL
Ignition Partners Bellevue, WA
MedVenture Associates Emeryville, CA
Minnesota Investment Network Corp. Saint Paul, MN
Miramar Venture Partners Corona del Mar, CA
New Enterprise Associates Baltimore, MD
Northwood Ventures Syosset, NY
Norwest Venture Partners Palo Alto, CA
Pacesetter Capital Group Richardson, TX
Primus Venture Partners Cleveland, OH
Rho Ventures New York, NY
Salix Ventures Nashville, TN
Sigma Partners Menlo Park, CA
Sorenson Capital Partners Sandy, UT
Spectrum Equity Investors Menlo Park, CA
Steamboat Ventures Burbank, CA
Stonehenge Capital Company Baton Rouge, LA
Tech Coast Angels Laguna Hills, CA
Technology Crossover Ventures Palo Alto, CA
The Carlyle Group Washington, DC
U.S. Venture Partners Menlo Park, CA
Updata Venture Partners Reston, VA
VantagePoint Venture Partners San Bruno, CA
Wasatch Venture Fund Salt Lake City, UT
Westbury Partners Westbury, NY
A great source of information on many types of business funding is the government Small Business Administration, which helps thousands of businesses get off the ground financially every year. The SBA website should be one of the first places to look for anyone needing help either starting their own small business or expanding an existing one. Keep in mind that the SBA does not directly provide grants, loans, or venture capital, but it does license providers all across the nation who do. More information and links to these sources can be found by starting here on the SBA homepage.
vFinance, Inc. is another excellent source of information on venture capital firms. They have a free, searchable database of over 1,400 venture capital firms. They also have a number of other free and paid services/resources aimed at helping startups and existing businesses. We are not affiliated with vFinance in any way and do not receive incentives for “clicks” or referrals.
