For trainees and junior lawyers · English law

Venture Deals

A startup takes investors' money before anyone agrees what it is worth, and later agrees a price. You are the junior on the deal.

How startups raise money from investors, taught through one company’s funding rounds, clause by clause.

A small rented room drawn straight on to its back wall. Two mismatched desks are pushed together, one a little higher than the other, with an office chair at one and a kitchen chair at the other, and a mug on each. On the whiteboard above them is one large circle drawn in marker, and a single copper line across it splits it in two, not quite down the middle. On the window sill a plant cutting roots in a jam jar.

You will be able to:

  • Read an investment agreement and say what each clause does
  • Explain what founders and investors each want, and why
  • Work out who owns what after each funding round

15 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 6 hours in all · published 21 August 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

The Table

Module 2

Money Before a Price

Module 3

The Priced Round

Module 4

Living With the Investor

Module 5

The Second Round and the Exit

One case runs through every chapter: two founders start a crypto company and raise money round by round, until one investor owns it all. Read the full investment agreement →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book