UK Venture Capital Terms – Boodle Hatfield – Drive.law

Accelerator Also called Incubators, a programme that aims to accelerate the growth of start-up companies through mentorship, brokering connections, and providing services and infrastructure (such as office space) for small portions of Equity in par... read more

AIM The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is a stock market operated by the London Stock Exchange designed for younger, high-growth companies. Admitting a company to AIM would be an Exit Event for its investors. ... read more

Angel Investor An investor (often a successful entrepreneur) who invests in early stage companies and who sometimes provides a mentoring role for the company’s Founders. ... read more

Anti-Dilution Adjustment Also called a Ratchet, a mechanism designed to maintain an investor’s percentage shareholding (at no or nominal cost to the investor) if the company issues further shares at a lower price to the one paid by that investor. There are ... read more

Articles A company’s articles of association set out the company’s rules and procedures. The Articles of a UK company are public and can be accessed through the Companies House The Articles represent a binding contract between the com... read more

Asset-Backed Lending Lending to a business that is secured by assets, such as inventory, accounts receivable or other balance sheet assets. A common form of Asset-Backed Lending is Invoice Discounting. ... read more

Capitalisation Table (Cap Table) A table setting out a company’s shareholders which shows the class of shares held as well as shareholdings (in actual numbers and as percentages). A Fully Diluted Capitalisation Table includes shares that would also be issued i... read more

Cashless Exercise The right to exercise a Share Option or a Warrant without actually paying cash for the shares. This method is frequently used when Share Options and Warrants are being exercised immediately before the sale or IPO&n... read more

Co-Sale Right Where an investor or investors are selling their shares in a company, a Co-Sale Right gives a fellow investor the right to sell a proportionate number of its shares to the same buyer on the same terms. ... read more

Companies House The public register of all UK companies which gives details of the directors, share capital, shareholders, Articles, annual financial statements and registered charges of every UK company and LLP. Companies House is now fully accessible ... read more